The Haryana government's decision to reserve 75 percent jobs in the private sector for locals has drawn severe criticism from across businesses and industry bodies.

Industry leaders have called the decision 'draconian', 'economic insanity' and 'economic suicide'.

President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Uday Shankar said, the state's move is a "regressive straightjacket" that will force the industry to look beyond the state. He also added that such a step is against the spirit of the Indian constitution.

The Confederation of Indian Industry or CII has demanded Haryana re-look at the legislation as it affects productivity & industry competitiveness.

But Haryana is not the only state to pass such a diktat-- the government of Andhra Pradesh had also passed a similar law in 2019 becoming the first state to take such a step. However, in May 2020, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had observed that such a decision may be unconstitutional and directed the state government to inform the court if the law was enacted as per the constitution.

Private companies fear that if one state implements such restrictions, other states will soon follow suit. And the concerns are not too farfetched-- the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab has urged the Amarinder Singh government to pass a similar law that reserves jobs for locals in the private sector.

To discuss whether there is a legal recourse over such legislation that controls private sector employment and whether private enterprises can challenge these laws in the court, Shereen Bhan spoke to Meenakshi Arora, senior advocate at Supreme Court and KR Shyam Sundar, professor of HRM at XLRI.

Watch the video for more.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)