Maharashtra govt proposes to relax conditions for recruitment of locals in hi-tech industries

The Maharashtra government, which has proposed to roll out the red carpet for investors post COVID-19, proposes to relax conditions with regard to 80 per cent recruitment of locals in industries. The government is expected to bring out a notification, whereby it will relax the condition, especially for hi-tech industries, to limit it to 60 per cent. The remaining 40 per cent can be brought from their respective countries or skilled manpower can be deployed for the initial three years of production.

In the meantime, the industry will have to train locals to increase their skill set so that, by the end of three years, 80 per cent of the total staff will be from Maharashtra.

This relaxation will be helpful particularly in the areas of electronics, high-end home appliances, artificial intelligence and medical equipment. The government has, so far, no plans to dilute labour laws in the state for the next three years, as done in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

An Industries Department officer, who is currently engaged in crafting the notification, told the Free Press Journal, “Maharashtra has been at the forefront to put in place industry- and investor-friendly policies. Considering the present coronavirus crisis, industries will face manpower shortage. Therefore, the government is of the view that, with the proposed relaxation in the recruitment of locals, hi-tech industries can, up to three years of production, hire 40 per cent skilled manpower.’’ He informed that the government’s move will help attract industries from China, Taiwan, US, UK, Germany, and South Korea, as Maharashtra has been the favoured destination.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also the finance minister, on March 6, in his budget for 2020-21, had said that the government will bring in a legislation during the monsoon session of the state legislature on the lines of Andhra Pradesh to provide 80 per cent reservation in the employment for local youth by correcting the flaws in the existing policy.

Earlier, state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, on Sunday, December 1, in his address at the joint sitting of the state legislature, had said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was concerned about unemployment and it will enact a law to ensure 80 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for the ‘sons of the soil’.

Incidentally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress in their joint manifesto and Shiv Sena in its Vachannama in the run up to the assembly elections held in October last year had promised to provide 80 per cent jobs to the locals.