Anbumani demands law to reserve 80% of jobs in industries for people of the State

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday asked whether it was the official policy of the State government to give preference to north Indian labourers in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu and urged the government to pass a law to guarantee that 80% of the jobs in industries be reserved for people living in the State.

In a statement, Dr. Anbumani referred to the recent comments made by Kancheepuram District Collector that the factories in the district prefer to employ north Indian workers rather than local workers because of lower wages and they taking fewer days of leave from work.

“It is unfortunate that a District Collector was justifying the act of industries’ preferring north Indian labourers and speaking like the head of Human Resources department of a company. Apart from Chennai, Kancheepuram district is home to a lot of industries and the local workforce should be given employment. Even in neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra, 80% of the work force is comprised of locals. Though we don’t have any law to ensure that, locals should be given preference at the very least,” he said.

Dr. Anbumani recalled that the DMK had promised to pass a law to ensure that 75% of the jobs in industries in Tamil Nadu be reserved for people domiciled in the State. “If the State government had brought in a law to that effect, these issues wouldn’t have cropped up. The incompetence of the government has turned district collectors and local unions of the companies against the local people,” he said.