India Inc feels the rising pressure to serve up jobs for locals.

In a large industrial park in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh, a supplier of zinc and aluminium die cast parts runs a busy plant. The company’s 150 staffers produce, polish and pack parts of security locks, sanitary and decorative hardware. Only about two per cent of the workers are native to Haryana. Why are so few locals employed by the company? The company’s owner, who didn’t want to be identified because labour inspectors would come knocking, listed many reasons: workers from the state are inflexible; they don;t want to do overtime, and at the drop of a hat, they can create chaos, demand more money, fight. Employing a large number of migrants on the factory floor has its drawbacks too but the industrialist said he had little choice. A large chunk of its workforce is from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. When they go on leave, it takes a month for them to return to work. “In contrast, local workers may take only two-three days off. But longer leaves are acceptable to us because it is lesser of an evil than handling locals,” he said.