New Delhi: The Jharkhand cabinet on Friday approved an employment policy requiring private sector units to reserve 75 per cent of jobs (up to a salary of Rs 30,000 per month) for local people similar to the policy Haryana government recently approved.
A source told Indian Express, “The CM will announce the new policy in the next week of the Assembly session, probably on March 17. A few modalities are yet to be decided; they will be announced in the Assembly.”
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According to the Economic Survey, the unemployment rate in Jharkhand rose to a peak of 59.2% at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, before gradually falling to 11.3% in January 2021. In January 2020, the unemployment rate stood at 10.6%.
The decision was taken after CM Soren’s visit to Delhi where he discussed the Jharkhand Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2021 with various stakeholders. According to reports, the state government also signed an MoU with FICCI on the side lines of the event. The decision is no surprise as the CM had mentioned earlier that the government was thinking about the reservation policy.
An issue they are likely to face during the implementation of the local reservation policy is identification of the beneficiaries. In 2002, questions around the definition of a ‘Jharkhandi’ had led to the resignation of former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and the government has avoided a similar discussion after the incident.
Earlier, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 was approved by the state Governor to provide quota for local people in private sector jobs that offer a salary of less than Rs 50,000 a month.
