Firms must display count of Kannadiga staff: Karnataka minister

Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the revocation of permissions granted to these companies.

Karnataka is considering making all multinational companies publicly display the number of Kannadigas employed in their offices and will frame the rules for this measure soon, a state minister said on Wednesday, sparking a controversy with industry bodies and opposition leaders calling it government overreach that will hurt the image of India’s IT capital.

The government has planned to launch a mobile application, ‘Kannada Kavalu’, enabling citizens to report instances of language discrimination (Bloomberg)

The minister for Kannada and culture, Shivaraj S Tangadagi, told the legislature that all MNCs operating in the state must prominently display the number of Kannadigas employed on notice boards. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the revocation of permissions granted to these companies, he added. “There has been a discussion to ensure that industries put up display boards on the number of Kannadigas they have employed. We will frame rules for that,” he told reporters outside the legislature.

He added that he was heading the committee formed to look into the measure. “We have secretaries of many departments and they have given suggestions. We will discuss and form the rules for industries and multinational companies,” the minister said.

The remarks came during a discussion on the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development (Amendment) Bill, which mandates that businesses need to have at least 60% of their signage in Kannada. The bill was tabled in the assembly on February 13 and passed on February 15.

The step on the need for multinational companies to publicly display the number of Kannadigas employed is not a part of the bill but came up during the course of the discussion.

Tangadagi told the House that the government was fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the prominence of Kannada, and added that organisations failing to adhere to these regulations will face consequences.

“Companies that fail to comply with government directives risk having their permissions revoked. A comprehensive framework will be established by the committee, which will determine the parameters for compliance with this rule,” he said. The minister also said the government planned to launch a mobile application called ‘Kannada Kavalu’ enabling citizens to report instances of language discrimination.

The step – a first for the country – sparked a controversy with many industry bodies expressing concern about its impact on Bengaluru, which is home to the largest chunk of IT firms in India.

“The statement made by the minister may not align with the current relationship between the industry and the government. While we recognise the importance of prioritising local employment. In fact, it is our duty. But we believe that such rules may not be appropriate,” said Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry. A member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), who did not wish to be named, said: “They (government) said that they are working on the rules but how do you define someone who is the person from the state? By birth? Or by speaking the language?… the Constitution gives us the right to live and work anywhere in the country.”

Reacting to Tangadagi’s statement, BJP MLA and former minister CN Ashwath Narayan said: “There are a lot of land losers, particularly the farmers. We cannot ignore their plight. But this doesn’t mean we are giving jobs only to Kannadigas. There should be a balance.” This is the latest chapter of the state government’s push to promote Kannada and the interest of local residents, and comes days after the assembly passed a bill mandating that Kannada signage on business and establishment sign boards must occupy 60% of the space.

A number of other states have also enacted reservations in the private sector for local residents. This includes Haryana (75%), Maharashtra (up to 80% quota), Andhra Pradesh (75%) and Madhya Pradesh (70%). But the validity of most of these laws has been challenged before the Supreme Court and many have been struck down by the judiciary.