Pro Kannada outfit meets Bengaluru airport firms, presses for higher local hiring

Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada organisation Kannada Rakshana Vedike (KRV) on Friday said it held discussions with companies operating at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on increasing employment opportunities for Kannadigas, as the group continued its campaign for greater local hiring in the private sector.

KRV president T.A. Narayana Gowda said he personally visited the airport following complaints about inadequate representation of Kannadigas in the workforce. According to him, senior representatives of 14 organisations, including Kempegowda International Airport Ltd (KIAL), Menzies Aviation, DHL Express, Air India SATS, Blue Dart, WFS, TajSATS, Taj Hotel and other service providers, participated in the meeting.

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In a post on X, Gowda described the interaction as "cordial and constructive", saying KRV conveyed its concerns over local employment and received an encouraging response from company representatives.

"It is our collective demand that Kannadigas get fair employment opportunities in their own land," he said, adding that participating companies maintained they had already hired a significant number of local candidates and committed to increasing the share over the coming year.

Gowda said the airport meeting marked an important step in KRV's broader outreach programme. He claimed the organisation had engaged with more than 350 companies across Karnataka without any untoward incidents and that both KRV activists and company officials had conducted the interactions respectfully.

Read more: Kannada activists visit Bengaluru firms, seek data on local hiring in private sector

The airport visit comes amid a debate over KRV's campaign to collect workforce data from private companies. Since November 1, activists have visited offices of several multinational companies, including Google, Amazon and Wells Fargo, seeking details on the proportion of Kannadigas in their workforce and measures being taken to improve local hiring.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar urged pro-Kannada groups not to take the law into their hands while pursuing employment-related concerns. He asked organisations to avoid intimidation and moral policing, while assuring businesses that the government would protect companies from any coercive actions.

At the same time, the chief minister called on private employers to make greater use of Karnataka's talent pool and expand opportunities for local job seekers.