E-Paper
Select Committee to review Bill reserving job in private sector for locals
The Jharkhand State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2021, which proposes to reserve 75% jobs in the private sector for locals, was on Tuesday sent to Select Committee of the Assembly for further review, as a number of legislators sought amendments to the proposal
The Jharkhand State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2021, which proposes to reserve 75% jobs in the private sector for locals, was on Tuesday sent to Select Committee of the Assembly for further review, as a number of legislators sought amendments to the proposal.
The decision to send the Bill, which was introduced in the House by labour welfare minister Satyanand Bhokta, to the Select Committee was announced by chief minister, as six legislators, including two from the treasury bench, brought in amendment motions. “This bill is related to empowerment of locals and we are very concerned about it. I can see that 22 amendment proposals have been brought altogether from both sides. We are sending this bill to the Select Committee,” said Soren.
The bill proposes to reserve 75% jobs in private establishments against such posts where the gross monthly salary or wages are not more than ₹30,000 or as notified by the government from time to time.
Soon after the minister tabled the Bill, legislator Pradeep Yadav, who joined ruling Congress after split in his former party JVM(P), and CPI (ML) legislator Binod Singh, who is supporting the government from outside, jointly brought a motion, requesting the House to send it to the Select Committee.
Singh argued that the copy of the proposed bill was provided to the legislators merely a day before and hence, they needed to review it as according to him, “it’s better to make adequate amendments than regret later”.
Yadav, on other hand, objected to some clauses, including inclusion of certain technical aspects, exemption clause for private entities on certain grounds, besides ensuing that local social demography is taken care of in recruitment, as reservation for Scheduled Caste groups can’t be applied in a private entity.
“Section 5 of the bill mentions exemptions that could be sought by companies with permission from the deputy commissioner concerned. This can be misused by companies. Besides, there needs to be a mechanism that representation of different social groups is maintained in recruitment, as the employer can employ persons from his or her own caste,” said Yadav.
However, the motion was turned down by the House, as the Treasury bench was not impressed.
BJP’s Amit Mandal proposed to include all companies including public sector undertakings in the ambit of the Bill. “Companies like ECL, BCL and and NTPC have major stakes. They should be brought into it,” he said.
As other legislators continued with their amendment motions, CM Soren intervened and announced that the Bill was being sent to the Select Committee.
