A campaign on Twitter with the hashtag #Karnatakajobsforkannadigas started on Saturday evening garnered support from Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and BJP leader C.T. Ravi.
The campaign seeking job reservation for Kannadigas in private sector comes in the wake of aspirants in Central government jobs from Southern States now in a disadvantageous position since exams can be written only in Hindi or English.
“I have seen the campaign for reservation of jobs for Kannadigas started by the youth on social media. I will take advice as to how this can be implemented within the legal framework,” Mr. Kumaraswamy tweeted.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said: “I too believe that Kannadigas should get priority in Karnataka, including in private sector.”
Expressing his support to the movement, Mr. Ravi had a word of caution: “Priority should be given to Kannadigas in employment in Karnataka. However, this movement should not be against people from other States or those speaking other languages.” The hashtag comes close on the heels of the State Cabinet’s decision recently to provide “100% preference” in group C & D jobs for Kannadigas in the private sector by bringing in changes to the rules framed by the State to the Central Act — Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946.
“We thought we will use social media to create awareness before we start a movement. The first two hours saw 30,000 tweets, which is a good beginning,” said Harish Kumar B., president of Karnataka Ranadheera Pade that initiated the hashtag.
