Haryana cabinet okays drafting of ordinance on pvt sector job quota
75% Reservation: Law secy to vet the document again; Presidential assent won’t be a cakewalk
For the second time in the past five months, the Haryana cabinet on Monday deliberated on a piece of draft legislation to provide reservation in private-sector jobs and gave a go-ahead for drafting an ordinance in this regard after fresh vetting by the law secretary.
The move to introduce reservation for local youth in private-sector jobs is on the lines of a law enacted by the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh, which has been challenged on the question of constitutional validity in the Andhra Pradesh high court.
While the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the coalition partner of the BJP in Haryana, had made a commitment to provide 75% quota in private-sector jobs to Haryana youth in its poll manifesto, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had sounded non-committal on the prospect of enacting a law to provide such reservation.
Though Khattar has been emphatic that the government will go ahead with the proposed quota in private jobs, sources close to him say the proposed bill in this regard might be watered down to ensure there is no pressure on the industry.
On February 7, the chief minister had made a reference to hiring unskilled workers by the industry, thus indicating that the proposed reservation could only be for the unskilled workers.
“It will not be mandatory for the industry and enterprises to implement the quota. Also, if the industry is not able to get 75% workers from Haryana, they will be at liberty to hire from outside the state,” the CM had said in February.
CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY ISSUE
Haryana’s law secretary, while examining the draft bill sent for vetting by the cabinet on January 31, had raised objections on the constitutional validity of the proposed law.
The issues primarily pertaining to Article 14 and 19 (1)(g) of the Constitution were deliberated upon by the cabinet on Monday and the draft was yet again sent to the law secretary for vetting.
Article 14 pertained to equality before law and Article 19 (1)(g) provides for protection of certain rights to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
The proposed ordinance titled Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Ordinance, 2020, will provide 75% of the new employment to local candidates for jobs having salary less than Rs 50,000 per month in private companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms and partnership firms situated in the state.
However, employers will have the option to recruit local candidates from one district to the extent of only 10%. The proposed law will also contain an exemption clause if suitable local candidates are not available for a particular category of industry.
PASSAGE NOT TO BE SMOOTH
Even after the proposed legislation receives the assent of the governor, it will have to be sent to the Presidential assent as the labour-related matters are in the concurrent list of the Constitution.
“The Government of India may not be keen on the enactment of such a legislation,” said an official. The BJP government at the Centre has a very different view on the issue.
In response to an unstarred question on whether the government proposes to formulate any scheme to implement reservation in appointment in private companies, the then Union minister of state for commerce and industry, CR Chaudhary, had told the Lok Sabha in March 2018 that a coordination committee for affirmative action for scheduled castes and tribes in the private sector was set up in 2016 by the department of industrial policy and promotion of the central government.
In accordance with the decisions of the committee, apex industry associations — Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) — prepared a voluntary code of conduct for member companies centered on education, employability, entrepreneurship and employment to achieve inclusion.
Former Union MoS for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla had in response to an unstarred question on whether the government intends to provide reservation in jobs to persons belonging to the SC/ST category in the private sector had told the Rajya Sabha in May 2016 that there was no such proposal.
