Context: Recently, Haryana Government has passed the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 paving way for more employment opportunities for locals in the private sector.
Provisions of the bill

• Every employer shall be required to employ 75 % local candidates for the 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.
• The local candidates may be from any district of Haryana, but the employer shall have the discretion to restrict employment of local candidates from any district to 10 % of the total number of local candidates.
• Every employer will have to furnish a quarterly report on the designated portal and mention details about local candidates employed and appointed during that period.
• Exemption: An employer can claim exemption from this 75% recruitment restriction but only after going through a long procedure and only if the government appointed officers believe that the employer’s request seeking exemption holds merit.
• Penalty: The employer can be fined with a minimum Rs. 10,000 to a maximum Rs. 2 lakh once it is established that the employer has committed a violation of provisions of the Act.

Benefits

• Generate local employment.
• Facilitate local level knowledge economy.
• Reduce internal migration

Disadvantages

• Against Constitutional Provisions which guarantees equality of status and opportunity for all and forbids discrimination based on place of birth alone
• Violates the spirit of Goods and Services Tax regime, which envisages one unified Indian market.
• Violates Supreme Court ruling that all reservations put together should not exceed 50% of total jobs
• Many specialised activities require highly skilled staff that cannot be found locally.
• May affect the competitiveness of industries.
• Cause social friction.
• Impacts freedom of business.

Is this reservation Bill violative of Article 16 of the Constitution of India?

• Andhra Pradesh’s decision of introducing 75% reservation for local candidates was challenged in the Andhra Pradesh High Court which observed that it may be unconstitutional.
• However, the Haryana government claims that the bill is not unconstitutional as Article 16 talks about public employment and the Bill only pertains to private sector employment.

Also Read: https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/MTg3ODQy/Haryana-Drafts-Ordinance-To-Reserve-75--Private-Sector-Jobs-For-Locals-Economic-Affairs-IAS