AMN \ WEB DESK
The Haryana government’s law, which provides 75% reservation for local youth in private sector jobs that offer a salary of less than ₹30,000 a month, came into force from January 15.
As the law came into effect, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Sunday said it will open new avenues of employment for thousands of youth.
As per the notification issued by the state government on January 10, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 requires local residents to carry the family identity card — the Parivar Pehchan Patra — for being eligible to register for employment on a designated portal of the Haryana Labour Department (https://local.hrylabour.gov.in/).
The Haryana assembly passed the legislation titled the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill on November 5, 2020, and the governor gave his assent to the bill on March 2 last year. The law will be applicable for a period of 10 years. The state government also relaxed the residency (domicile) requirement from 15 to five years for a person to get a bona fide resident certificate in the state to provide some flexibility to the private companies in hiring.
“Private sector hiring comes to a halt from January 15, the date of commencement of this Act. Now every employer in the state will first have to register employees receiving gross monthly salary or wages not more than ₹30,000 on the designated portal within three months of coming into force of this Act. No person shall be employed or engaged by any employer till the registration of all such employees is completed on the designated portal,’’ said an official, quoting the law.
Deputy chief minister, Dushyant Chautala, had said that startups and new Information Technology (IT) companies will be exempted from the provisions of the Act for two years. Officials said that this primarily meant that start-ups, companies, firms and establishments which come into being or are set up after January 15 will be exempted for two years from hiring 75% local candidates by the state government. Also, any internal hiring (from within a company or an establishment) is likely to be exempted from the law.
In November last year, the state government reduced the upper limit of gross monthly salary for jobs which will come under the ambit of the private sector job quota law. As per the official notification, jobs with a gross monthly salary of not more than ₹30,000 will be up for hiring from among local candidates.
The bill passed by the assembly last year capped the gross monthly wages for jobs available for hiring at ₹50,000. However, following feedback from industrial houses and entrepreneurs, the state government decided to reduce the salary cap, people aware of the matter said.
The India Inc had earlier called for a re-look at the legislation, saying that it could lead to multinational firms moving out of the state.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said: “At a time when it is important to attract investments at the state level, governments should not impose restrictions on the industry. Reservation affects productivity and industry competitiveness.” “We hope the government re-looks the legislation or at least ensures the rules are fair. As one country, there should be no imposition or restriction,” it added.