- There is something wrong with the political class in the country who remain oblivious to the reality on the ground. Or they feign complete ignorance. In their zeal to impress upon the all-important electorate who possess the power to make or break a political party, untenable and illogical incentives/sops being bandied about to lure has become a regular affair. Such inducements being grandiosely announced simply smacks of opportunistic roleplay aimed at influencing vote banks rather than make any palpable economic sense keeping the interest of the country at large.
PC:
- Most annoyingly, the political parties seem to have realized, without rhyme or reason, that taking umbrage under those illogical announcements ensures unflinching support from the targeted category. Whether national or regional political outfits, announcing populist measures without due considerations to the counterproductive returns arising out of such fallacious moves are increasingly on the rise. Of late, political parties have taken on the mantle of upholding the rights of locals by promising reservations in private jobs in poll-bound states. Recently, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief promised 80% reservations for locals in Goa should his party come to power there.
- This follows his similar promise for Uttarakhand too. For the benefit of unaware people, several states like Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have already implemented or tried to implement similar populist policies. Pursuing such policies is only going to ensure a race to the bottom yielding nothing welcoming in the bargain. Look at Haryana’s law that requires jobs with a salary below Rs. 50,000 per month to be reserved for locals alone. Now, people in the know would be scratching their heads as India’s average annual per capita income is Rs. 1.34 lakh, and Haryana wants to reserve jobs with an annual salary of up to Rs. 6 lakhs.
PC: Julia Talevski
- Note that these jobs are certainly not just unskilled jobs. Imagine what would happen if the law were to be fully implemented in letter and spirit which would only mean the death of the private sector sooner than later. A metropolitan city like Gurgaon thrives on attracting the best talent from across the country which is being deprived owing to populist measures. The harsh truth is several states pushing for jobs reservation have miserably failed to skill their people adequately. With the Covid-induced restrictions squeezing new jobs and private investments, the problem has been further exacerbated. Such a ham-handed approach by forcing the industry to reserve jobs for locals will only leave it with two choices i.e., to dodge rules or flee.
- As can be seen, neither is good for the country in the long run. Left with no alternatives, the companies will be forced to keep a significant number of hires off the books and/or drying up fresh projects for want of positive yields. No wonder, India’s efforts at positioning as an attractive investment destination will be the casualty if the same is pursued. It’s another matter altogether that quota-imposed labor restrictions are unlikely to stand court scrutiny as it stands to violate the Constitution’s Articles 16(2) and (3) prohibiting discrimination in employment on the ground of place of residence. Wake up, politicians! Do not indulge in cheap politics.
