'Won't Hire Male Candidates From 4 States In North': Bengaluru CEO’s Hiring Policy Excluding Men Triggers Online Debate; Check Out Viral Post

A Bengaluru-based CEO has sparked a debate on social media after announcing that his company would no longer hire male candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Karthik Shenoy, CEO of A1 Sports World, shared the announcement on X, saying the decision followed an internal disagreement and what he described as a lengthy discussion.

CEO announces hiring policy

Shenoy wrote, “I'm sorry for this, But today we have made it very clear after lengthy discussion and quarrel.”

He then outlined the company’s stated recruitment policy, saying, “We will not hire any male candidates in our company who come from these four states in north India.”

The four states named in the post are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Shenoy also referred to an existing employee from Rajasthan while explaining the decision. “We do have 1 Rajasthani already working for us. She has 100% supposed this,” he wrote.

The post soon attracted attention, with several X users questioning the basis of applying the restriction to an entire group of male candidates based on their state of origin.

Social media users question decision

One user said the concerns behind the announcement could be understood but questioned whether such reasoning could lead to unfairly treating every man from the listed states as a potential “creep”.

Another user pointed out that people from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh work across India's technology and corporate sectors, arguing that the policy amounted to generalisation.

A third user questioned how such criteria could be applied consistently, asking which states could be considered free from crimes against women if crime reports were used to determine hiring decisions.

Karthik explained what fuelled this decision of excluding male candidates from these 4 states. He said, "This mess started 2 weeks ago when an employee from one of the aforementioned mentioned state was fired, despite giving him warning 2wice he was still abusive to female employees, and he was forcing himself on one of them... We work with quite young kids... Do you think men with these ideology and mindset even deserve opportunity?"

Hiring policy sparks debate

The announcement has triggered a wider discussion about workplace safety, recruitment practices and whether employers should use broad demographic categories when evaluating job candidates.

While Shenoy described the move as a company decision following an internal discussion, critics on social media have challenged the fairness of excluding candidates based on their gender and state of origin rather than assessing applicants individually.

Published on: Thursday, September 24, 2026, 02:04 PM IST