The Supreme Court has set aside the stay that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered to stop the implementation of the 75 per cent job quota in Haryana. The road is now clear for the state government to put in place the job quota, which allocates 75 per cent of privately-held jobs, up to a certain level, in the domicile of Haryana to local candidates. The top court told the State to not take any “coercive steps against the employers”.
The apex court pointed out that the high court order, which issued a stay on the ‘Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill’, has been put aside as the court did not find sufficient reasons for staying the law.
The High Court had issued an interim stay on the law earlier in February. The state government took the matter to the Supreme Court. Earlier, they had enacted the law across the state on 15 January, 2022.
The Act dictates that once it is in effect in Haryana, every employer shall employ 75 per cent of the local candidates with respect to such posts where the gross monthly salary or wages are not more than Rs 30,000.
Multiple industry bodies in Haryana have expressed their disapproval of the law. However, the state government has taken up a really defensive stance in the matter, pointing out that it only makes “geographical classification”, which is constitutional.
According to the 2018-19 Periodic Labour Force Survey, only 10.7 per cent of the salaried jobs in Haryana pay more than Rs 30,000 a month. Hence, the quota would be applicable to about 90 per cent of the employment opportunities in the state of Haryana.
