Laboured arguments

State job reservations are counter-productive

The Karnataka government has done well to backtrack on a law that would have required businesses, including multinationals, to display on a dashboard the number of Kannadiga employees they employ. The requirement, articulated in a statement by the state culture minister, caused consternation in Bengaluru’s corporate community. Former Infosys chief financial officer and current venture capitalist T V Mohandas Pai pointed out the rule would have restricted hiring practices and led to violence. He pointed to the vandalism that occurred two months ago after the state had proposed to reserve 60 per cent of a billboard or name-board for the