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What if we define Kannadiga has someone who can comprehend and speak the local language? Think TOKSL (Test of Kannada as spoken language) And then, have some 'reservation' for Kannadigas in local jobs. This way, you (sort of) kill two birds with one stone - promote local language (entice 'migrants' to learn the language), and offer some protection to resident mod/low-skilled labor as learning local language wil be a sort of a 'barrier'. Kannada should be the winner, either way.

Vasanth, folks favoring their own 'tribe' - this has to be fought in different way than this. You may be mixing two things - reservation for locals, and discrimination. Employment favors based on religion/caste/sex/tribe, if they can be proved, should be weeded out legally. I think regulatory tightening is what you are asking for first..

Its far too common for people to ask personal questions in interviews. Married? Children? Place of origin? - downright inappropriate if you ask me. Even at work, a select group of folks speaking in a language that some others can't understand - this could be termed as harassment. To me, even the use of words ('surd', 'gult', 'mallu') that some may consider derogatory could also amount to harassment.

We know these things are hard to prove, and legal measures to set these right would lead to some misuse and unnecessary legal expenses. But over time, creating and enforcing these types of laws will help promote ethics, professionalism and equality.

A disclaimer - laws like this ( EEO - equal employment opportunity of US) may exist in our country, but I am not much aware of their exact form.

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I believe TOKSL is already there in the State government promotions, especially in the IAS cadres? The logic probably is that the public servants can serve the public better if they (mostly those IAS/IPS guys from outside) are familiar with the local lingo. The reservation of jobs for locals might have made sense in the bad old days of regulation and permit raj where job opportunities were scarce. With the acute shortage of skilled manpower in every field, reservation policy will not work. Some of us might have read newspaper reports of what is happening in Mumbai because of ousting of Biharis. Nepotism, favoritism are nothing new. Railways are the best example. A generation or two earlier, it was full of Tamilians and now probably Biharis. On the west coast from Kanyakumari to Mumbai, it is full of Malayalees. As for the argument "Kannada should be the winner, either way," I feel Kannada should not develop through artificial props and legislation and agitations. It should ideally develop through its own inherent strengths and through the adventurous spirit and loyalty of the Kannadigas themselves. For eg., because of IT people from every part of India and the world are flocking to Namma Bengalooru and are forced to pick up a smattering of Kannada. SL Bhyrappa's controversial books have reached far away lands like Rumania.

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The only way to counter such behaviour is through reservations.

 

And this is not confined to IT jobs alone - Selection of domestic servants, drivers & gardeners is also being done on the basis of state & language. Many wish to choose candidates belonging to their own state & do not want the locals for reasons best known to them. For example, a tamil speaking family arrived from USA & insisted on a tamilian driver & servant as soon as they moved in to bangalore, but were unable to find them. So, they employed a local driver & then sacked him when they found a local 'tamil-also-speaking' help. I'm sure their search is still on as they are yet to find a perfect tamil-speaking replacement.

 

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Firstly,

We should look at why such a demand has come up??

If IT jobs were all recruited purely on merit basis, then such a demand wouldn't have arised at the first place.

It is very very evident in bangalore IT cos that a Tamilian will give preference to a tamilian, a mullu to a mallu candidate, a bengali will do anything for a bengali.. and hence they outnumber us.

We all know, the nature of jobs and kind of skills required in few of the biggest MNCs. 50% of IT jobs doesn't even need a graduate degree leave alone an Engg degree and this 50% makes for atleast 100000 jobs ( Assuming IT jobs at bangalore to be around 200000 ( it is definately more than that)) and you need very basic skills to hire a guy for these 1 lakh jobs and here where the foul play happens.

I was with TCS for 2 years and I have seen some of the guys from TN, who were even sent to Onsite, were hardly able to speak a proper sentence in English !! and they were all campus recruits !! ofcourse hired by a Tamilian manager from BLR.

So, those who say there is no injustice or discrimination against Kannadigas in IT recruitments are actually living in a fool's paradise. We, Kannadigas don't want any reservation but if this trend of biased attitude, discrimination against us continues, then, a reservation wouldn't be a bad idea after all !!

 

 

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Reserving a certain number of seats for desrving kannadigas is definitely a good idea, but one immediately begins to suspect the logic behind this promise by JDS ..its loud and clear Election promise and one cannot put much faith into it.

But on a broader issue, i feel that when these companies are recruiting personnel based on language or other criteria, with disregard for other capablities , they themselves will be the ultimate sufferers as quality and effeciency is bound to come down.We have the best of colleges here in Karnataka and naturally a very able set of graduates are coming out every year, and if the IT companies shun them, then the loss is theirs....

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