Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh : 75 % quota for locals in jobs : Good or Bad?

Andhra Pradesh has passed a Bill in the Legislative Assembly which will provide 75 per cent reservation for locals in industries and factories in the state. This will include projects set up under the Public-Private Partnership mode as well. The Bill is to be passed by the Legislative Council.

Locals are defined as those people who are domiciled in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Bill, if and when passed, will make Andhra Pradesh the first state to have reservations for locals in private industry. Other states like Madhya Pradesh have promised 70 per cent reservation. Jaganmohan Reddy who had promised this during his election campaign, has called it a boon for unemployed youth in Andhra Pradesh.

Filter Kaapi sought the views of experts on the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries/Factories Act, 2019. 

R Ganapathi, President, South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI)

I think the decision gives a sense of comfort and protection to the locals. It will not affect the quality of the workforce because there is as much fish in the pond as you want to pick. It won’t compromise on talent. In fact, I get about ten biodatas everyday from people in south Tamil Nadu, who would tell me they would prefer a job somewhere near Madurai. If I have a project in another state, they are usually reluctant to relocate. At the end of the day, we always find that external workforce is rarely more than 25 per cent.

Peri Maheshwar, Chairman & CEO, Careers 360

The Andhra Pradesh government passed a bill to reserve 75% jobs to locals. A time of 3 years has been given for compliance. The responsibility of creating skilled workforce lies with the industry and not the government.

Now, imagine that every state does this. Half of the employees in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana will have to move out. Most states will have an influx of people. Many corporations will lose out people. And very soon, we will be 30 countries. 

Large corporations like Infosys, Wipro and TCS can never have a national talent pool nor diversity at work place. They in turn, will opt to avoid Andhra in their expansion plans. Regressive labour laws will undermine new investments in the state while appeasing to the uninformed. Over the years, the law would survive but job creation would suffer.

Creating protectionist walls is easy meat for the politicians. Vote bank politics should not be allowed to cross a line. India is one and so must the freedom to choose, live and work in any part of India. The economic and social costs of this law will be borne by locals who are meant to benefit, in years to come.

Mohan Guruswamy, Policy Analyst

I am totally opposed to it. If they restrict employment, will they also restrain capital inflows? It is also ultra vires and unconstitutional.

Harish Bijoor, Brand Consultant

There is the good, the bad and the ugly in this new Act. The “good” is the fact that it fulfills the need of the locals who look for jobs and compete with a nation of job-seekers, local and outsiders.  The “bad” is the fact that the Act puts the onus of training people to make them eligible for recruitment onto the already stressed-out private sector. The “ugly” is the fact that federalism enters the arena of jobs. Outsiders are not welcome anymore. Every tate will raise barriers against the outsider.

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