Exclusive | Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar says 75% private sector reservation only for non-technical jobs

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar clarified that his government’s decision to reserve 75 percent of jobs in the private sector to locals will apply only for non-technical fields.

“The 75 percent reservation in private sector jobs for Haryana locals is only for those with salaries below Rs 50,000 per month. That too, only for non-technical jobs. This reservation rule is not being implemented on technical jobs,” Khattar said in an interview with Moneycontrol.

On the face of it, the clarification that the reservation will only apply to non-technical jobs will potentially bring some relief to companies.

A day before the interview was published, Lohit Bhatia, President, Workforce Management, Quess Corp, told Moneycontrol that Haryana has the largest employment in the manufacturing (auto and ancillaries), ITES/ BPO, retail and tourism sectors, and all these industries predominantly hire at below Rs 50,000 per month. “This is the slab that is affected.”

Khattar said the labour inspector will not trouble industry about these reservations and only the state labour commissioner will have the jurisdiction to investigate compliance on these reservations. “Industry will have to give self declaration that they have complied with the law and we will accept that. For mega industry we will give more flexibility to hire from multiple districts."

The Haryana government’s decision caused plenty of consternation among companies, triggering fears that it could lead to an exodus of companies leaving the state. Several companies and some industry bodies wrote to the government, beseeching it to revoke the reservation decision.

The move was also roundly criticised by industry stakeholders. Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder and executive vice president, TeamLease Services, told Moneycontrol that this will kill the institution of ‘One India’.

In the interview with Moneycontrol, Khattar explained the rationale behind the move. “All we said is locals in Haryana should be given preference for jobs. The locals demanded 75 percent reservation and that’s what we have done,” Khattar told Yatish Rajawat, CEO of think-tank Center for Innovation in Public Policy.

Khattar said the reservation was clearly written in the manifesto of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government in Haryana. “This was written in the manifesto from the beginning. No one spoke against it at that time. No one is against it even today.”

When asked if the industry will suffer due to this reservation law, Khattar said, “It will not have an impact.” The industry should not be scared of reservation, he said.

He added, “Haryana isn’t the only state with a reservation policy for jobs in private sector. Such policies are running in seven states including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.”

In the podcast, Khattar also spoke at length about the efforts of the Haryana government to overcome social and economic challenges. Khattar who is also the state’s finance minister talked about his preparations for the budget, which will be presented on March 12.

Catch the full interview in Hindi.