Wrong Solution: The Hindu Editorial on Urban-Rural Divide and Reservation

The issue of reserving private sector jobs for people residing in the same state may soon face its first judicial examination. The Supreme Court has asked the Punjab and Haryana High Court to decide within four weeks on the validity of a Haryana law mandating 75% reservation for local candidates in private sector jobs, who pay up to Rs 30,000 per month . Even though the apex court quashed the interim stay order given by the High Court, it was doing so only because the stay was granted without assigning any reason. It is an established principle that a law cannot be stopped unless there is a preliminary conclusion that it is unconstitutional or suffers from some apparent illegality. There are some issues that arise when the state imposes quotas in the private sector, especially if it is based on domicile criteria. Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have also introduced such laws, while the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu promised 75% reservation in its election manifesto for last year’s assembly polls. Given the bleak employment situation in the backdrop of the alleged loss of lakhs of jobs during the pandemic, it is no surprise that the leadership in every state wants to find employment opportunities for its youth. In some states, employers may find it cheaper to use the services of people from a distant state, while in others there may be a severe shortage of workers within the local population.

The first hurdle facing legislation like the Haryana State Local Candidates Employment Act is the constitutional prohibition on discrimination on the basis of place of birth or residence. Even though the Constitution allows the government to set residential criteria for employment in public positions, it is questionable whether such a measure can be extended to the private sector. In the case of Haryana, it includes companies, societies, trusts, partnership firms and individual employers. The industry may be distressed that the housing requirement may adversely affect the hiring of talent from outside Haryana. From an individual point of view, the law can affect freedom of movement, the right to live and settle in any part of the country, and the right to do any business. Of course, the Act provides relaxation to any employer if sufficient number of local candidates are not available in terms of skill, aptitude and proficiency. And there’s a sunset clause: The act will stop working in 10 years. What such developments reveal, beyond the question of legitimacy, is the state of the economy, particularly the labor economy. Rapid urbanization and agricultural conditions are behind the mass migration in search of employment. The real issue to be addressed is the wide disparity between urban and rural areas, between advanced states and backward ones.