Big quotas for locals will lead to economic slump: Study
With the election season in progress, the political parties are on a promise spree, some realistic but mostly “unrealistic and non-feasible”.
The DMK, the main opposition party of Tamil Nadu that is expected to return to power, if poll surveys are to be believed, has in its election manifesto promised 75 per cent reservation for Tamils in private jobs.
This seems far fetched as there could be lack in skills among the locals and this would deprive a high-skilled and talented workforce. Also there are other states like Karnataka, Telangana and even Kerala who can provide jobs to these skilled workers.
Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai has conducted a study among professionals and entrepreneurs on the impact of such a reservation and found that this would lead to lesser number of talented workforce, migration of companies thus leading to a slump in economy.
C. Rajeev, Director of Centre for Policy and Development Studies who led the study told IANS, “Freebies have been a culture of Tamil Nadu politics and people have accepted it as rampant industrialization has led to the state meeting the finances of these freebies but if you restrict even private sector jobs to Tamil populace, that will lead to a migration of companies from this state directly leading to a slump in economy.”
The industry is also worried about such an announcement by a prominent political party for the sake of votes.
M. Velmurugan of the Tamil Nadu Small and Medium Industries Association based out of Guindy industrial estate told IANS: “Reservation for Tamils is good but it has to be restricted to non-skilled people but extending this to 75 per cent reservation of jobs in private sector for Tamils, will doom the industrial situation of the state.
“Even now there is a huge deficit of skilled blue collar workers and if this is put in practice, then it will be difficult for industries to survive.”
There are already provisions in the Tamil Nadu industrial act to provide reservation to Tamils in companies which are setting up shop in the state and using government facilities or rather subsidies.
R.K. Doraiswamy of Tamil Nadu Industries association said, “The companies which use government facilities and subsidies are bound to provide reservation for Tamils, but for large companies who don’t have anything to do with the state rather than helping it become more and more industrialised, this will lead to chaos and moving away to other more industrial friendly states. Even in the heydays of M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa they have brought in such a manifesto. This will doom the industry.”
The study also revealed that there is a clear failure on the part of the government to impart skilled training to youths and if the youths are properly trained and adaptable to industry, then it’s different.
K.M. Shajahan Khan who is running a software company in Chennai while speaking to IANS said, “It will be better if political parties stress on skilling youths and Central government is providing all facilities for that. If youths have enough skills, getting jobs is not at all an issue.”
The Centre for Policy and Development Studies is planning to present the DMK, AIADMK and other mainstream political parties with a memorandum for increasing the skills of the youths rather than providing them jobs on a platter.
Rajeev said, “Jobs should not be given in a platter, instead Youths must be made industry-friendly and make them trained in proper skills. Jobs will come to them and thereby the state will also be benefited. Gimmicks will not develop the state industrially as in a highly competitive industrial atmosphere investors will choose the state’s that have better investor-friendly policies.”
