Bengaluru/IBNS: The Congress government in Karnataka on Wednesday approved the bill making it mandatory to recruit only Kannadigas in the Group C and Group D posts of private firms, media reports said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced the 100 percent quota for Kannadigas, in a move which is viewed as regional politics.

Siddaramaiah had made the announcement on his X handle. The bill is likely to be tabled in the assembly on Thursday.

The Chief Minister said the Kannadigas will not be deprived of jobs in the 'Kannada land'.

"We are a pro-Kannada government. Our priority is to look after the welfare of Kannadigas," he said as quoted by NDTV.

The government's decision has drawn objections from the industry players.

Biocon Limited executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw posted on X, " As a tech hub we need skilled talent and whilst the aim is to provide jobs for locals we must not affect our leading position in technology by this move. There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy."

Infosys executive Mohandas Pai wrote, "This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh is govt to certify who we are? This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a govt officer will sit on recruitment committees of private sector? People have to take a language test?"