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Biocon Ltd executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw took to X and wrote, “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.”

Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai also said that the bill must be junked and called it a fascist bill. “This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh 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 asked.

The latest bill which got an approval from the cabinet will mandate the reservation of 50 percent of management jobs and 75 percent of non-management jobs for Kannadigas. This bill covers entire private sectors, including the IT sector, and it will be tabled in the current assembly session. Establishments can also apply for exemptions, and the government will allow some relaxations under certain conditions.

A penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 fine will be levied on those companies that do not follow the provisions in the bill, and ₹100 will be collected every day until the local employer count is as per the bill. The bill also directs all private firms to hire only Kannadigas for group ‘C’ and ‘D’ blue-collar jobs.