Jharkhand all set to reserve 75% jobs for locals in private sector

By Express News Service

RANCHI: Days after Haryana notified its policy of 75 per cent reservation in private sector industries for the domiciles of the state, the Jharkhand Cabinet on Friday approved an employment policy ensuring 75 per cent of the private sector jobs up to a salary of Rs 30,000 for local candidates only. Though there is no
official confirmation, sources in the Chief Minister’s office said that it is likely to be announced during the ongoing Budget Session of Jharkhand Assembly.

“Thought the decision has been taken in the Cabinet, a few modalities are yet to be decided. The Chief Minister is likely to announce the decision during the Assembly Session on March 17,” said a senior official in Chief Minister’s Office.

The Chief Minister, on several occasions, had hinted earlier that his government was contemplating a policy for ensuring jobs for the locals in private sector. Notably, a proposal of giving priority to the local youths in private jobs was a part of the manifesto of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in 2019 Assembly
elections. The JMM lead alliance government, after coming to power, was striving to implement this policy.

The decision apparently was taken looking at the large number of migrant youths coming back to their homes during the lockdown. The state’s unemployment rate gradually fell down to 11.3 per cent in January 2021 after rising up to 59.2 per cent at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, revealed the Economic Survey. In January 2020, the unemployment rate was 10.6%.