'My kids don't deserve jobs?': Phone Pe founder questions Karnataka quota move

PhonePe CEO and co-founder Sameer Nigam has come out against the Karnataka government’s private jobs quota Bill, which aims to reserve a sizable number of jobs in the private sector for locals, though it has been put on hold after severe backlash.

Taking to social media platform X, Nigam, who claims to have created over 25,000 jobs across through his companies in the country, contended that the bill was unfair to people like him who have lived in multiple states due to their parents’ work.

“I am 46-years-old. Never lived in a state for 15+ years. My father worked in the Indian Navy. Got posted all over the country,” he wrote on X.

He questioned rationale behind the Bill, asking whether his children, who have grown up in Karnataka, “don't deserve jobs in their home city”, despite him creating employment opportunities all over the country.

The Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, was proposed on July 16. The Bill mandated reserving 50 per cent of management-level jobs and 70 per cent of non-management-level jobs for locals.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group primarily serving the Indian tech sector, said in a statement on X that such “restrictions could force companies to relocate as local skilled talent becomes scarce”.

Top industry leaders have already warned the Karnataka government that such a law would blunt the state’s edge in technology. After the severe backlash, Karnataka ministers Priyank Kharge and MB Patil have said the Bill was just a proposal by the Labour Department and other departments were not consulted. They have assured the industrialists that the law would be implemented only after holding discussions with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and industry experts.