The Congress-led Karnataka Government on Wednesday landed in soup after the Cabinet first approved a controversial Bill mandating first 100 per cent reservation in private firms then revising it to two slabs for Kannadigas and finally “put on hold” facing backlash for 48 hours.

The reservation in private firms for Group C and Group D posts was made public by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and later he deleted it, sharing another rectified post clarifying that the Cabinet approved the Bill to fix 50 per cent reservation for administrative posts and 75 per cent for non-administrative posts for Kannadigas in private industries and other organisations in the State. The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting held on Monday.

The move, however, did not gone down well with industry leaders and late evening Government sources said the Bill which was to be tabled in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday has been put on hold now. Sources said the Congress high command from New Delhi had to intervene given the “sensitivity” of the matter in the Bill as the State including the silicon city Bengaluru has a population from north India and else part of the country.

“The Cabinet meeting held yesterday approved a Bill to make recruitment of 100 per cent Kannadigas mandatory for ‘C and D’ grade posts in all private industries in the state. We are a pro-Kannada Government. Our priority is to look after the welfare of the Kannadigas,” the CM said in a social media post and then deleted it and replaced with another message. 

“It is our Government’s wish that Kannadigas should be given an opportunity to lead a comfortable life in the motherland. We are a pro-Kannada Government. Our priority is to look after the welfare of Kannadigas,” he said.

Karnataka’s move is similar to a Bill introduced by the Haryana Government, mandating 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs to the residents of the State. It was, however, struck down the Punjab and Haryana High Court on November 17, 2023.

According to sources, the ‘Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024’ will be tabled on Thursday in the Assembly.