New Delhi:

Amid a huge uproar over a bill that directed private firms in Karnataka to reserve jobs for Kannadigas, the state government is now planning to raise the IT staff’s working hours to 14 per day, the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) said on Saturday.

According to the KITU, the proposal to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to facilitate a 14-hour working day was presented in a meeting called by the labour department with various stakeholders in the industry.

If implemented, the extended work hours will have the biggest impact on Bengaluru, the state capital known as the IT hub of the country.

The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government has so far not said anything on the issue.

“The proposed new bill ‘Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024’ attempts to normalize a 14-hour work day. The existing act only allows a maximum of 10 hours of work per day including overtime, which has been completely lifted in the current amendment. It will facilitate the IT/ITES companies to extend the daily hours of work indefinitely,” the Union said in a statement.

This amendment, the KITU said was the “biggest ever attack on the working class in this era”, and will allow the companies to go for a two-shift system instead of the currently existing three-shift system and one-third of the workforce will be thrown out from their employment.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh S Lad and the officials from the departments of Labour and Information Technology and Biotechnology, the KITU said it pointed out the studies on the health impact of extended working hours among the IT employees.

“As per the report of KCCI, 45% of employees in the IT sector are facing mental health issues such as depression, and 55% facing physical health impacts. Increasing working hours will further aggravate this situation. WHO-ILO study says increased working hours will lead to an estimated 35% higher risk of death by stroke and 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease,” it said.

“This amendment comes in a period when the world starts to accept the fact that increased working hours are negatively impacting productivity and more countries are coming with new legislations to accept the right to disconnect as a basic right of any employee,” the Union said.

The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union urged the Chief Minister Siddaramaih-led government to “rethink” the proposal and warned that any attempt to go with the amendment will be an “open challenge” to the 20 lakh employees working in the IT/ITeS sector in Karnataka.

The Union also called upon all the IT sector employees to unify and come forward to resist this “inhuman attempt to impose slavery on us”.

Earlier last year, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy sparked a huge debate when he suggested that India’s work culture needs to change and that youngsters should be prepared to work for 70 hours a week. His company, which has a headquarters in the Karnataka capital Bengaluru, has a market valuation of Rs 7,44,396.43 crore.

Karnataka’s Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms

The Karnataka government earlier this week stoked a controversy when it cleared a bill that required private sector firms in the state to prioritise local hires for 70 per cent of non-management roles and 50 per cent of management-level jobs.

Drafted by the state’s Labour Department, the proposed bill claimed the jobs in question were being given largely to people from the northern states who were then settling in Karnataka.

It proposed that Karnataka-based companies benefitting from state-provided infrastructure reserve jobs for locals.

The bill, however, was paused after outrage followed the announcement.

Bengaluru:

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has deleted a social media post announcing 100 per cent reservation for Kannadigas in all Group C and Group D jobs in private companies in the state.

Reservation of jobs in private firms will be capped at 70 per cent for non-management roles and 50 per cent for management-level employees, Labour Minister Santosh Lad clarified simultaneously.

On Tuesday Siddaramaiah had posted the 100 per cent reservation news on X (earlier Twitter).

“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,” he had said.

READ | Karnataka Okays Bill For 100% Quota For Locals In Private Firms

The Chief Minister said it was his government’s wish Kannadigas be given an opportunity to lead a comfortable life in their state and not be deprived of jobs in ‘Kannada land’.

“Fascist, Discriminatory”: Industrialists React

However, the “discriminatory” decision was not well received by business leaders, many of whom said the IT industry, on which Bengaluru (and Karnataka) has made much of its fortune, would suffer.

“This bill is discriminatory, regressive… this is a fascist bill, as in ‘Animal Farm’ (the George Orwell novel),” Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, had said on X.

Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was more circumspect; she welcomed the proposal but called for “caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy”.

As a tech hub we need skilled talent and whilst the aim is to provide jobs for locals we must not affect our leading position in technology by this move. There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy. @siddaramaiah@DKShivakumar@PriyankKhargehttps://t.co/itYWdHcMWw

— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) July 17, 2024

“As a tech hub we need skilled talent and whilst the aim is to provide jobs for locals, we must not affect our leading position in technology by this move. There must be a caveat…” she said on X.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw’s company’s registered office is in Bengaluru’s Electronics City, an 800-acre industrial and technology hub that also has offices of Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and others.

Biocon, a global biopharmaceuticals enterprise, employs over 16,500 people.

RK Misra, co-Chairman of ASSOCHAM Karnataka, called the proposal “short-sighted”.

“Another genius move from Government of Karnataka. Mandate LOCAL RESERVATION and APPOINT GOVT OFFICER IN EVERY COMPANY to monitor. This will scare (companies)… short-sighted,” he said.

“We Will Resolve…” Minister On Jobs Row

Earlier today, after industrialists expressed their concern, Commerce and Industries Minister HB Patil provided reassurance, saying “I have seen that many people have apprehensions… we will resolve this confusion… so that it does not have any adverse effect…” Mr Patil said.

He also pointed out the need for all states, not just Karnataka, to be at their “peak” in a competitive and globalised era of manufacturing and industrial revolution.

“India is experiencing a manufacturing and industrial revolution… In this competitive era, states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are striving to be at their best. It is of utmost importance for all states to be at their competitive peak,” he declared.

The minister said Karnataka could not lose a “once-in-a-century race of industrialisation”.

Karnataka’s Jobs Reservation Proposal

Drafted by the Labour Department, the proposed bill claimed the jobs in question were being given largely to people from the northern states who were then settling in Karnataka. It proposed that Karnataka-based companies benefitting from state-provided infrastructure reserve jobs for locals.

The proposed policy, it is understood, reflected recommendations made by the Sarojini Mahishi Committee, which said large, medium and small-scale industrial units with over 50 workers had to reserve 65 and 80 per cent of Group A and Group B jobs for Kannadigas.

All Group C and Group D jobs would be kept for Kannadigas, the report had said.

However, no policies were formulated regarding these recommendations.

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