In a heated debate within the Karnataka Assembly, tech giants such as Infosys and Foxconn have found themselves under intense scrutiny for their alleged failure to provide employment opportunities to local residents, particularly those who surrendered their land for corporate projects.
During the session on Tuesday, February 13, Arvind Bellad, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, unleashed a scathing attack on Infosys, accusing the IT giant of not generating a single job in his constituency, Hubbali-Dharwad West.
"In my constituency, there is an industrial estate, Infosys has taken land. They have taken 58 acres, but have not given a single job. They have just planted trees and made gardens. Take back the land from them. They talk about ethics but have not created jobs," Bellad said.
Bellad stated that the government offered
Infosys land for
₹35 lakh per acre when the market price was
₹1.5 crore. According to him, he had asked the farmers to part with the land, claiming that a large firm like Infosys would provide hundreds of jobs.
In 2018, Infosys built the 3.64 lakh sq ft facility, which can accommodate 1,400 employees. However, the business revealed that it will only be hiring for a few posts at the centre in August 2022.
CNBC-TV18 reached out to Infosys for its response, but the company has declined to comment so far.
Echoing similar sentiments, Dheeraj Muniraju, BJP MLA from Doddaballapur, criticised Foxconn and
Jubilant FoodWorks for purportedly neglecting to hire locals who had relinquished their land for corporate projects.
"You have given land to Foxconn, they haven’t given jobs to any farmer who lost his land. Even Jubilant FoodWorks… They have not hired a single local person. Foxconn has started hiring and they are sending the recruits to Chennai for training," the MLA complained.
Responding to mounting pressure, Karnataka Industries and Commerce Minister M.B. Patil assured the Assembly of governmental action against companies that were shirking their responsibility to employ local landowners.
"They would have gotten the land at a subsidised rate, which is an incentive. I don’t want to specifically talk about anyone, but be it Infosys or others, if they have taken the incentive and not given jobs to land owners according to their educational qualification, we might consider withdrawing the incentive or withdraw the land. We will discuss what can be done specifically under the law," he said.
Notably, the minister disclosed that
Foxconn had been allotted 300 acres at a subsidised rate, with expectations of generating 50,000 jobs and producing 20 million iPhones. Patil reiterated the government's stance on prioritising employment for land-losing farmers and pledged to uphold accountability among corporate entities.
In a separate legislative move, the Karnataka government swiftly introduced amendments mandating the prominent use of Kannada in commercial signage and product labelling. The amendment aims to enforce a minimum 60% utilisation of the local language in various public domains, reinforcing the state's commitment to linguistic and cultural preservation.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
