Labour minister Bhupender Yadav addresses Labour and Employment Ministers of BRICS

Ravi S Singh

New Delhi, July 15

Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav has talked about the remedial measures taken by the Centre to rehabilitate workers following covid pandemic. He was addressing the virtual meeting of Labour and Employment Ministers of BRICS.

Various skill development initiatives undertaken by the Union government were highlighted by Yadav during the meeting.

Further, various steps such as e-Shram portal, conduction of all India surveys of migrant workers and domestic workers were also highlighted.

He informed about the legislative initiatives taken by India such as the Code on Social Security, 2020, which defines the new forms of workers i.e. gig and platform workers and the steps taken to provide social security benefits to them.

Yadav apprised the participating ministers of the global recognition of India’s successful fight against covid pandemic, especially the vaccinations drives and the measures to revive the economy.

The BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting-2022, held under the Chinese Presidency, were attended by ministers of the member countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Discussions were held on three priority issues, namely, promoting green jobs for sustainable development; developing skills for resilient recovery; and protecting workers’ right in new forms of employment.

The minister said climate change is necessitating a shift towards more sustainable development and green jobs.

He said that a Sector Council for green jobs has been set up in India to develop strategy and implement programs for skill development in the green sector.

The variety of decentralised renewable energy livelihood opportunities which are being developed in India, including myriad solutions like solar dryers and biomass-powered cold storage/chillers, were also enunciated.

He stressed upon the measures taken to harness the potential of blue economy and agro-forestry in India.