Karnataka’s Labour Department has distributed ₹3.5 crore to 48 private companies in the financial year 2025-2026 as part of the Ashadeepa scheme. This will impact 732 employees from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
As per the officials, most of the beneficiaries are within food, paint, tools and garment manufacturing units, and about 40% of them are women.
“The pandemic marred the initial years, and the initiative was slow in picking up. It largely gained momentum in 2022,” said Ravi Kumar, additional labour commissioner. Starting in 2019-2020, Karnataka has reimbursed ₹18.9 crore to 256 companies for employing a total of 6,664 SC and ST workers.
“When we began, we were simply incentivising employers who had already hired members of these communities. Over time, they began recognising caste nuances, and hiring picked up,” said Chethan Kumar, a field executive in the labour department.
The uptake under the policy increased with the policy shifts introduced in June 2024. This includes decreasing the one-year apprenticeship requirement to six months and extending salary support after apprenticeship from one year to two. A new recruitment incentive introduced the same month already covers 158 candidates.
As per Chethan Kumar, caste sensitisation has been a gradual process. A six-member implementation team visited HR departments across districts in Karnataka to push the scheme, and higher incentives have nudged companies towards genuine new recruitments of SC and ST. However, some experts have cautioned against reinforcing occupational segregation.
