The Haryana Assembly passed a Bill on the 4th of March to reserve 75 per cent of the private-sector jobs in the state for the people of Haryana. This move sparked controversy in business communities across the board, terming it as ‘unconstitutional’. Due to this, three industrialists moved to Punjab and Haryana High court and filed an appeal to remove the domicile-based reservation system.
The Bill articulates that “every employer shall employ 75 per cent of the local candidates with respect to such posts where the gross monthly salary or wages are not more than Rs. 50,000 or as notified by the government from time to time.”
There is no dispute with the fact that such populist moves ultimately hurt the people of the state the most. For instance, the recent bill passed by the Khattar-led government in Haryana is going to hamper the employment process of the state because there will be no point for industrialists to join the parade, hence they will simply walk off and consider other options such as Noida.
Haryana once claimed to be one of the richest Indian states. Within Haryana, Gurugram and Faridabad are the top employers and income generators of the state. The two cities will be facing most of the consequences. The city of Gurugram dreamt of being the top IT hub of the country, but now if the reservation law stands in the court, the dream of Gurugram might be long gone.
Sandeep Jain, MD of an automotive parts manufacturer, Solo Group, said, “Employable youth in Gurgaon is nearly absent. It will be disastrous for existing industries who want to expand and employ more.”
Post-1991, India is a liberal economy that got freedom from the shackles of socialism, hence follows the globalised market policy, which gives freedom to the industrialist to set up the companies and run on their terms and conditions. It means an industrialist can employ workers according to the capabilities of the employee. Any industrialist will not be forced by the state to employ according to the state’s wishes. Article 19 clause (g) clearly states, “Freedom to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.” The Haryana Job reservation law is allegedly in violation of these privileges laid down by the constitution.
Meanwhile, the reservation laws passed by the Haryana assembly seems to undermine the free-market policy of the government. The domicile-based reservation policy is the brainchild of Dushyant Singh Chautala, chief of the Jannayak Janta party, and also an election gimmick in the Haryana assembly election in 2019.
But, many BJP and RSS leaders are criticising the move of the Khattar government. It will be wiser for the BJP leadership in Haryana to reconsider the reservation move and bring it to the negotiation table with Chautala. Either Dushyant Chautala must retract from his reservation policy or it’s high time for the BJP-led government to consider dissolving the assembly. By dissolving the state assembly, the Khattar led government will be sending a clear message that the BJP is not a party that believes in populist gimmicks, and rather than thinking about only one state, the ruling party is considering the economy at large.