Delegates at ILO’s International Labour Conference take note of India’s efforts.
Ravi S Singh
New Delhi, June 16
India’s “benevolent management”of its workforce, especiallyof unorganised sectorsand women, came in for praise from delegates of Member-States of ILO during it’s justconcluded 110th International Labour Conference in Geneva.
Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav, who led the Indian delegation to the event, said: “The delegates I met were appreciative of India’s efforts and strides in effective measures to revive UTs economy keeping its workforce at the Centre.”
There are 187 Member-states of the ILO (International Labour Organisation). ILC is a marquee and world calendar event.
Giving details of the proceedings at the ILC, Yadav said the participants during the plenary session of the ILC agreed that there should be a human-centric recovery.
This is possible only through ensuring decent work which involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration.
To this effect, the ILC discussed security for formal and informal sector workers with emphasis in their security at job place. People shouldget jobs along with mandatorybenefit of minimum wages and that the minimum wages should factor in inflationary pressures.
With regard to inimical effects of climate change, the ILC underlined that the workers must be protected and that policy frameworks must factor in the problem of how climate change is going to affect employment opportunities.
“Delegates agreed that Covid impacted women workers harder and also that challenges such as the climate crisis will affect our women workforce more.”
“There was a general understanding that governments should make women-centric policies in the sphere of labour reforms and legislations,” Yadav said.
In India, the National Career Service is doing that by keeping women at the forefront of the efforts to provide employment.
During the deliberations at ILC, Yadav highlighted the Centre e-Shram portal created in August 2021 to register unorganised workers. Out of nearly 280 million registered workers, nearly 53 per cent are women and 47 per cent are men.
He stressed that the portal in the years ahead will contribute towards 100 percent saturation of welfare schemes. The registration of women in such large numbers will ensure they are not left behind.
A key concern raised during the deliberations was that of the skill gap facing the world. The gathering agreed that apprenticeship is the way ahead to address this skill gap.
Historically, apprenticeships have been viewed as a means to facilitate the school-to-work transition for young people. In the context of a today’s world where technology is evolving by the minute, the apprenticeship model needs to empower not just the youth but also older workers to acquire new skills, reskill and upskill through their working lives.
During the plenary session of ILC, Yadav underlined that strong domestic economic foundations have helped India outdo other nations in this recovery process.
With schemes like the Swanidhi Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana and through distribution of free ration to 80 crore people, the government is ensuring that the recovery is human-centric and equitable.
Yadav informed that Conference urged the developed world to reach out with the promised helpin terms of making finance and technology available to those left behind.
