Bangalore: Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on July 14 staged a walkout in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly protesting the government move "to privatise employment exchanges" and alleging irregularities in awarding the contract to a private firm.

BJP members led by its leader Jagadish Shettar charged that there was a deal between the government and a private agency, which has been entrusted with task of providing a "smart card" to the unemployed who would register with it.

Shettar, Kattasubramaniam Naidu, P H Poojar, S Suresh Kumar and others alleged that the Reo Technologies, which was registering the unemployed youth, had been charging Rs 100 for issue of smart card, which, they said, was high and put the poor to inconvenience.

C Byregowda and other BJP members demanded that government shelve "the privatisation move".

Minister for Labour Quamarul Islam said the government had taken up privatisation only in six districts as a pilot project and denied opposition allegations of irregularities.

He said 18.65 lakh unemployed youth were on the rolls of the employment exchange and in the last three years 15,977 had been provided with employment.

Government, he said, was prepared to bring in a legislation making it mandatory for the government to recruit through employment exchange, a practice that has been given the go-by since 1996.

Dissatisfied with the reply, the BJP members trooped out of the House.

PTI