Infosys Comes Under Fire in Karnataka Assembly For Not Creating a Single Job
Bengaluru: Industries Minister MB Patil promised action after Deputy Leader of the Opposition Arvind Bellad on Tuesday asked the government to withdraw 58 acres of land allotted to IT major Infosys in Hubli for not creating a single job.
Bellad, the Hubli-Dharwad (West) MLA, said this during a discussion on a calling attention motion by Mulbagal MLA Samruddhi Manjunath regarding jobs for locals at industrial establishments.
"There's an industrial estate in my constituency where Infosys took 58 acres. They've not created a single job. Instead, they've done gardening and landscaping," Bellad said.
The BJP MLA said Infosys got land worth Rs 1.5 crore per acre at just Rs 35 lakh. "I requested farmers to part with their lands saying their children would get jobs. Today, I can't see them in the eye. I convinced them to withdraw their court case also. There must be some penalty," Bellad said. He even complained that jobs for locals have not been provided at the Hubballi airport operated by the Airports Authority of India.
Infosys' Hubballi campus, which has a capacity to house 1,500 techies, was cleared in 2013. The campus was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore.
"If land was taken, but nothing was done, then we will issue notice and take action," Patil said, without naming Infosys.
When Bellad asked what penal action the government can take, Patil and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said incentives will be withdrawn. "We can even consider a policy (for penalties)," Patil said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka stressed on the need for penalties on industries that do not provide jobs for locals or comply with rules.
Earlier, Manjunath said industries are not complying with the requirement of giving jobs to Kannadigas. To this, Patil said out of 36,286 jobs in the Narasapura industrial area in Kolar, 28,543 are held by locals.
"Under the Industrial Policy 2020-25, establishments receiving incentives from the government must provide 100% Group D jobs and an overall 70% jobs to Kannadigas," Patil said. The minister stressed that it is mandatory for jobs to be given to families who lost land in lieu of the industrial investment.
"Be it Infosys or any company, if land losers aren't given jobs based on their educational qualification, we can withdraw incentives. We can even withdraw the land in stringent action," Patil said.
Patil also said the government will ensure jobs for land losers at Taiwanese giant Foxconn's plant in Doddaballapur where 20 million iPhones will be manufactured.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
