In reaction to the propaganda by Raj Thackeray and other leaders that ‘outsiders’ were taking away jobs from locals in Maharashtra, Industries Minister Ashok Chavan clarified on Tuesday that the government resolution asking industrial units to reserve 80% jobs for the “locals”, is just a directive - it was not mandatory.

Chavan also said that the government could not fine anyone for not complying with the directive. He asserted that in this world of globalization, no state could set such a condition on one hand, and expect more and more investments on the other. Still, he said that it was the industrial units that had submitted an undertaking to the government, promising 80% jobs to locals.

Chavan added that the resolution was passed to ensure implementation of existing rules, under which “local” people of the state get 80 percent preference in industrial units. It was aimed at reminding the industries to comply with the resolution originally issued in 1968, and then again in 1970, 1973, 2005, 2007.

According to the state government rules, a “local” is someone who is domiciled in the state for more than 15 years. As per government records, the total number of “locals” working in about 1.6 lakh units across micro, small and medium industries at 10.86 lakh people. Records indicate that, out of these, “locals” held about 91 percent of the non-supervisory jobs and 97 percent of the supervisory posts.

In large-scale industries, over 88 percent of the staff in the non-supervisory category and 78.7 percent in supervisory posts are held by the Maharashtrians.