The Haryana government enacted the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 on January 15, 2022, under which it was mandatory for private employers in the state to reserve three-fourths of jobs paying less than Rs 30,000 a month for local residents.
This 75% domicile quota in private sector employment was an election promise made in the 2019 assembly elections by Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief and now Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala.
The Bill specifies penalties for various offenses. For instance, failure to provide 75% of new employment to local candidates will attract a fine between ₹50,000 and two lakh rupees, with an additional penalty of ₹1,000 for each day till the contravention continues.
Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday struck down this law that mandates 75% reservation for locals in private sector jobs.
The HC bench headed by Justice GS Sandhiwalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan termed this law as "unconstitutional" and also violative of Part III of the Indian Constitution.
The state government argued for the desirability of the bill as there has been an influx of a large number of migrants competing for low-paid jobs placing a significant impact on local infrastructure and housing and leading to the proliferation of slums causing environmental and health issues.
According to the high court, the concept of constitutional morality has been openly violated by introducing a secondary status to a set of citizens not belonging to the state of Haryana and curtailing their fundamental rights to earn their livelihood.
The bench went on to add that private employers in the state cannot be forced to employ on the basis of the reservation policy with the mere argument that state resources are poor and limited.
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