Secretary (Labour &Employment) , Government of India

Address to the Plenary : 104th Session of International Labour Conference

Madam President of the 104th ILC, Director General ILO, Mr Guy Ryder, Vice Chairs from Workers and Employers, dignitaries on the dais, ladies and gentlemen

I would like to begin by expressing my deep sense of honour for this opportunity to address this august gathering. I also place on record our appreciation for the dynamic and visionary leadership of Mr Guy Ryder, DG, ILO.  His Report to the ILC focusing on future of work centenary initiatives signifies the sincere attempts of ILO to remain faithful to its objective of social justice & protection of the interests of workers.

We hope that the Centenary Initiatives as envisaged in “Future of Work Centenary Initiative”would pave the way for achieving the goal of decent work for all. The Decent Work Agenda of ILO has withstood the test of time to emerge as a universal and successful mandate for protection of interests of workers all over the world and so are the expectations from Centenary Initiatives.

The new economic order has given rise to new phenomenon in the world of work. Self-employment, rise of SMEs and migration are the new faces of labour market. We need to revisit and refine our understanding of various aspect of decent work in order to address the issues in the changing scenario and to ensure the rights and welfare of the workers.

Government of India has been proactive in providing decent work conditions and improved quality of life of workers. The Ministry of Labour and Employment strives to safeguard the interests of workers, while simultaneously providing an enabling environment for the industry and business to grow. In order to bring our legislation in tune with the changing world, we have initiated, with the due tripartite consultation, a process to frame four labour codes in place of existing 44 labour laws. These are Labour Code on Wages, Labour Code on Industrial Relations, Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare and Labour Code on Safety and Working Conditions. We appreciate ILO's contribution to the process.

Government of India is committed to promote industrial peace and harmony and to provide a conducive environment for inclusive growth and industrial development. To this effect, we are working zealously to bring in an atmosphere of transparency and accountability to the labour enforcement system while doing away with burdensome compliance cost. Through‘Shram Suvidha Portal’, we have started allotment of Unique Labour Identification Number(LIN) to Units to facilitate online registration, Self certification, inspection system and grievance redressalsystem.

Job creation continues to be the prime policy agenda in India with targeted focus on youth employment. We are working on enhancing employability, through employment services and skill development. Public Employment Service in India is being transformed through National Career Service (NCS) platform to bring together job seekers and job providers on a technology driven platform. Government has also launched its flagship initiative "Skill India" to prepare the young Indians across the country for decent and productive employment as well as entrepreneurial roles.

The existence of huge unorganized sector in India is a major challenge. We are committed to extend the net of social security to all. Ministry of Labour and Employment has started portability for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) through Universal Account Number (UAN) to almost 45 million EPFsubscribers in formal sector. The Govt. has taken initiatives for registration of all unorganized workers and issue of cards to them, which will serve as a platform to link with all eligible social security schemes.

India has deep respect for international labour standards and we are continuously making efforts to increase the ratification of Conventions by India. Recently India has taken some concrete steps which would facilitate the ratification of ILO Conventions. The Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, 2014 to give effect to the Maritime Labour Convention2006 has been passed by both the houses of Parliament. Certain changes have been proposed in Merchant Shipping Act 1958, so that ratification process could follow with regard to ILO Convention NO. 185 related to Seafarers’ Identity Document.  In May 2015, the Cabinet has approved the proposal for official amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Bill, 2012 which would pave the way towards ratification of ILO Core Conventions C-138 and C-182.

We appreciate the current agenda of ILC which is very much relevant and contextual because transition to formality and promoting SMEs are the burning issues in the World of Work. Transition from informal to formal is an area in which ILO has done an extensive work and we are happy that the office is coming up with instrument on “Transition from informality to formality.   We hope it will facilitate formulation of a rational policy to address the feasibility and modalities for transition in India, where the challenge is huge.

We appreciate the office for bringing out the burning issues concerning the labour in these comprehensive documents.  ILO may continue to focus on employment generation, boosting labour participation, improvement in the working condition of the labour through social dialogue so that the objective of Decent Work may be achieved in totality.

We expect that Centenary Declaration as proposed in Future of Work would assist in achieving Decent Work objectives and in long run help in getting labour peace and harmony. We look forward to ILO's continued leadership role in subjects related to labour.

Thank you.

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