Karnataka Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar on Sunday warned Bengaluru’s private IT companies that his government would take action against firms found deliberately sidelining Kannadigas in hiring, after a viral social media complaint alleged language-based discrimination in the city’s technology sector.
“It is disheartening to hear complaints that Kannadigas are being denied job opportunities in Bengaluru’s IT companies. The government has taken seriously the issue of native Kannada speakers being sidelined. In Karnataka, the Kannadiga is sovereign.” D. K. Shivakumar, Chief Minister of Karnataka, said in a social media post on 25 October 2026.
He added, “The world sees Bengaluru as India’s technology capital, and we take immense pride in the talent, skills, and capabilities of our Kannadigas. If it is found that any private institution has deliberately sidelined Kannadigas, the government will take appropriate action.”
The chief minister’s intervention followed a viral video in which a woman alleged that Bengaluru IT firms gave greater preference to Telugu and Tamil speakers, skipped campus recruitment at local colleges, and hired candidates from outside Karnataka at lower salaries. The video has reignited debate over language and access to language in India’s largest technology employment hub. Shivakumar did not specify what form the state’s action against non-compliant firms would take.
Bengaluru accounts for a dominant share of India’s technology workforce. The Nasscom-Zinnov GCC Landscape Report 2026 estimated that the city hosted around 29% of India’s Global Capability Centre ecosystem, while a September 2026 PeopleLogic report found Bengaluru represented 30% of tracked IT job postings, ahead of other major hubs.
The controversy also revives the earlier debate over the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which proposed significant reservation for Kannadigas in private-sector jobs. The bill was approved by the state cabinet in July 2024 but was put on hold within days following strong pushback from industry leaders, including Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
Officials in the state secretariat clarified that Shivakumar’s warning this week concerns alleged deliberate exclusion in current hiring practices, not any new reservation policy.
