The Hindu Business Line : Give jobs to Kannadigas, Minister tells IT cos

THE Industries Department of Karnataka has sent out letters to 167 companies — including IT companies — asking them to give priority to local persons during recruitments, the Industry Minister, Mr P.G.R. Sindhia, said on Monday.

This would be in tune with the Sarojini Mahishi report, which has recommended that a bulk jobs within Karnataka should go to Kannadigas, he said during a media briefing.

Replying to queries about the city's traffic and infrastructure problems that were constantly raised by the IT sector, Mr Sindhia said the State had invested Rs 6,000 crore in creating infrastructure in Bangalore; as a gesture, these companies should also give jobs to local talent.

Clarifying that this was not a confrontationist stance, he added, "We will give them infrastructure. I am begging them to give jobs to Kannadigas."

A cross section of the IT firms whom Business Line spoke to said they have not received any such letter from the State Government. However, speculation is rife that the IT companies may be forced to re-think their expansion plans in the State if the Government stands firms on implementing such an advisory.

"There is no need to be unduly concerned over this issue as it is just a thought and still in the debatable stages. It is too early to comment on the impact of this statement as there is no clarity on the issue," said an office bearer of the Bangalore Forum for Information Technology.

According to a senior Government official, the issue does exist and the notice applies to all industries, though predominantly to the manufacturing, electronics and hardware sectors.

IT industries were expected to hire up to 30 per cent of local talent.

They were definitely falling short of it but excused themselves under a national level recruitment policy.

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