The Haryana government on Saturday enacted a law to reserve 75% jobs in the state’s private sector for residents.

The quota was one of the key promises made during the 2019 Assembly elections by the Jannayak Janta Party – the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alliance partner in Haryana.

The coalition government had passed the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 in November last year. Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya approved the Bill in March.

The law providing reservation will come into effect from January 15, 2022, the Haryana government said on Saturday.

“Local Employment Act is enacted from today [Saturday] itself, November 6,” the Jannayak Janta Party’s Spokesperson Deepkamal Saharan tweeted. “January 15, 2021 is [the] last day for industry to upload their employees’ data on [the] government portal.”

Those who are domiciled in Haryana will be able to avail the benefits of the act. To have domicile status, a person should be born in the state or should have lived in there for at least 15 years.

Companies have the option to hire people from outside if they cannot find suitable candidates in Haryana, NDTV reported. But they would have to inform the government about this decision.

The Act will cover jobs that pay up to Rs 30,000 as gross monthly salary. In the draft Bill, the salary limit had been set at Rs 50,000, according to NDTV.

The law apply to companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms, partnership firms located across Haryana.

Industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had criticised the Haryana government’s decision to reserve 75% private sector jobs for locals, saying that it would be disastrous for industrial development and private investment.

“Investors and entrepreneurs need to source the best human resources available in the country to be competitive and successful,” FICCI President Uday Shankar had said in March this year. “To force them in such a regressive straightjacket will force them to look beyond Haryana and this will ultimately hurt the interests of the state.”