Hurry up! Karnataka govt gives 50% concession in traffic fine payment in e-challan cases

Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka on Wednesday defended its move to reserve jobs in private sector for Kannadigas in the state, even as industry veterans objected to the proposed quota, calling it 'fascist,' and 'short-sighted.' The government also sought to reach out to the private sector, saying their interests will be protected.

The state cabinet on Monday cleared the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, making it compulsory for private firms to reserve jobs for Kannadigas in their establishments. It is likely to be tabled in the Assembly on Thursday.

"Any industry, factory or other establishments shall appoint fifty percent of local candidates in management categories and seventy percent in non-management categories," the bill read.

If the candidates do not possess secondary school certificate with Kannada as a language, they should then pass a Kannada proficiency test as specified by the 'Nodal Agency', it added.

The nodal agency will have powers to call for any records, information or documents in the possession of an employer or occupier or manager of an establishment for the purpose of verifying the report.

The Government may appoint an officer not below the rank of Assistant Labour Commissioner as the authorised officer regarding compliance of the provisions of the Act.

Any Employer or Occupier or Manager of an Establishment, who contravenes the provisions of this Act should be liable for a penalty between Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000.

Hailing the bill, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, "The Congress came to power in Karnataka to uphold the dignity of the Kannadigas--be it the issue of signboards of private establishments, the Kannada flag, Kannada language, culture, documents or specific percentage of reservation in jobs for Kannadigas."

Minister for Infrastructure Development, Medium and Heavy Industries M B Patil also backed the bill saying there is no doubt that Kannadigas should get jobs in Karnataka.

He, however, underlined that the interests of the industries will also be safeguarded.

"In private sector, certain ranks of posts will be reserved 100 percent for Kannadigas. The interests of industries will also be protected." In a statement issued by his office, the Minister was quoted as saying that he will discuss with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, IT-BT, Law and Labour Ministers in the event of any confusion in the bill.

"The government will also work on the skill development of Kannadigas. We cannot miss the bright opportunities of manufacturing sector and industrial revolution," he said.

"This bill will be discussed with all concerned. There is no need to worry in this regard," Patil said.

The move, however, has not gone down well with industry leaders.

Well-known entrepreneur and former Chief Finance Officer of Infosys, TV Mohandas Pai dubbed the bill as "fascist."

"This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh (Congress leader) is govt to certify who we are? This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a govt officer will sit on recruitment committees of private sector? People have to take a language test?" Pai said on 'X'.

Pharma company Biocon Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said, "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."

ASSOCHAM, Karnataka co-chairman R K Misra said on 'X', "Another genius move from Govt of Karnataka. Mandate LOCAL RESERVATION & APPOINT GOVT OFFICER IN EVERY COMPANY to monitor. This will scare Indian IT & GCCs. Short sighted."

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.

The US military has officially declared an end to the mission of its floating pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip that was apparently used to facilitate an Israeli massacre instead of delivering aid to the besieged territory.

Speaking at a news briefing on Wednesday, Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), claimed that the water dock had “achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza”.

"The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete. So there's no more need to use the pier," he added.

US President Joe Biden announced back in March the construction of the $230 million pier that involved 1,000 US soldiers and sailors. 

However, bad weather delayed the initial installment of the maritime corridor, and then in late May, broke it apart. Since then, the US military has detached the pier and moved it to the port of Ashdod.

As a result, the pier operated only 25 days and delivered supplies equivalent to just a couple of days’ worth of the aid that flowed into Gaza before Israel’s ongoing genocidal war.

Meanwhile, reports said it facilitated the Israeli massacre against the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza that killed at least 274 people and wounded nearly 700 others on June 8.

The ex-US aid director for the West Bank and Gaza, Dave Harden, said that the now-closed pier was “interesting in theory, but in practice, an absolute failure – and my concern is who will be held accountable?”

“What we have not seen is a robust opening of the crossings … I think this goes first to the Israelis, and second to the Americans,” he told Al Jazeera. “And in the meantime, the Gazans themselves continue to suffer. This was a tragedy compounding a tragedy."

Biden had already expressed disappointment in the temporary water dock, saying, “I was hopeful that would be more successful.”

Several congressmen had also criticized the Gaza pier for its cost and potential risk to US troops.

Furthermore, the Gaza government had condemned the US project as a publicity stunt “to beautify its ugly face.”

Similarly, aid groups had denounced the pier as a distraction, saying Washington should have instead put pressure on Israel to open Gaza crossings and allow humanitarian aid to enter the blockaded Palestinian territory.

“The US wanted to show that it was doing something to aid the humanitarian effort, and yet it wasn’t successful in pushing Israel to do the most obvious necessary thing — which is to allow full access via the land crossing, or allow access from Israeli and West Bank markets,” said Tania Hary, the executive director of Gisha, an Israeli rights group.

“So it put in this incredibly expensive, inefficient workaround that ended up proving to be a completely disastrous waste of money, and a colossal and embarrassing failure on top.”

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 38,794 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, in Gaza, and injured 89,166 others.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet on Monday approved implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations, effecting a 27.5% increase in basic pay from August 1, 2024, and benefiting 12 lakh state govt employees and pensioners.

The commission, led by former chief secretary K Sudhakar Rao, was constituted in November 2022 with a six month mandate.

The final report was submitted to chief minister Siddaramaiah before Lok Sabha elections were announced in March 2024.

The commission’s recommendations include raising the minimum salary for govt employees from Rs 17,000 to Rs 27,000 a month.

The implementation is expected to widen the revenue expenditure of the Karnataka govt by Rs 20,000 crore annually. The most considerable expenditure will be the burden of Rs 7,409 crore for salaries, followed by Rs 3,791 crore for pensions and family pensions each year.

The decision comes after the previous BJP govt, just before the 2023 assembly elections, granted interim relief with a 17% salary hike for govt employees, leaving the remaining 10.5% for future discussions.

After Congress govt took office, it faced pressure to fulfil five poll guarantees and delayed the decision.

The employees, during an executive committee meeting held recently in Chikkamagaluru, decided to launch a three-phase protest culminating in an indefinite strike planned from July 29. This appears to have pressured the govt.

"We welcome the decision for providing employees with 27.5% salary hike," said Shadakshari, state president of Karnataka state govt employees' association.