Bengaluru’s A1 Sports World has sparked a controversy by declaring that it will not hire men from the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Company founder Karthik Shenoy in a post on X said the decision was made after a male employee, from one of these four states, was fired two weeks ago for allegedly abusing female colleagues and “forcing himself on one of them”.
Shenoy said the employee had been warned twice about his abusive behaviour. He called the company’s stance a difficult one, arrived at after “lengthy discussion and quarrel”, and noted that a Rajasthani woman on his own staff backed it. “We work with quite young kids,” he said. A1 Sports World trains children to be athletes, according to its website.
In response to criticism, Shenoy defended his stance. He conceded that the tweet was ill-timed, but said he stood by the policy, which he described as temporary, and that he aimed to lift it by 2027 once a “screening tool” is ready
But a hiring ban along these lines is flawed. Article 15 of the Constitution bars the state from discriminating on grounds that include place of birth. Private companies may not be bound by that but would do well to hold themselves to...