In a first, Andhra Pradesh reserves 75 percent private jobs for locals

YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy

Andhra Pradesh on July 22 became the first state to reserve 75 percent of jobs in private industrial units and factories for locals, according to reports. The reservation would be implemented irrespective of whether the private entities get financial or any other help from the government.

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on July 22 passed the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in Industries/Factories Act, 2019, paving way for 75 percent reservation in private jobs across all categories, including public private partnership projects, according to a report by The Times of India.

According to the report, if locals with relevant skill sets are not available, the companies will have to train them along with the state government.

The report states that the companies listed in the first schedule of the Factories Act, which include those dealing with hazardous industries like fertilisers, coal, pharma, petroleum and cement, are exempted from the act after the government looks into each of them and takes a call.

The companies will have to comply with the provisions of the act within three years of its commencement, according to the report. They will also have to provide quarterly reports about the appointments to the nodal agency, the newspaper has reported.

"This will help the person who has lost their lands and their occupation for facilitating establishment of industries and other unemployed youth by ensuring that their livelihoods are guaranteed and sustained," a statement by the government said, according to an India Today report.

Reservation in private sector jobs was one of the promises made by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during the run-up to the Assembly polls in the state.

While a similar demand has existed in states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the past, MP CM Kamal Nath had, on July 9, stated that his government was mulling 70 percent reservation in private sector for locals.