105th International Labour Conference
Geneva, 30 May - 10 June 2016

BRICS’ Labour Ministers Lunch Meeting
(9 June 2016)

Speech by MoS (IC) for Labour and Employment,
Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya
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1.      Distinguished Ministers, Excellencies and friends from fellow BRICS countries,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you and your representatives to this luncheon meeting. India has assumed the chair of BRICS this year and we are happy that following the recommendation of the Ufa meeting of BRICS Labour Ministers in January 2016, Labour and Employment agenda is now firmly placed in BRICS policy forum.

2.      India conceives quality employment as an important tool to promote faster, inclusive and sustainable growth. We are encouraging domestic industry, and working to attract large scale global investment for creation of massive job opportunities, and balanced regional development.

3.      At the same time, we also recognize that it is not enough if we create employment opportunities alone without providing wage security and social security. 

4.      We are tirelessly working towards our mission to provide social security to everyone. Inclusive growth is our motto.  We want everyone, be it youth, women, rural poor, or minority backward class to be a stakeholder and partner in this walk towards sustainable and inclusive development. We have taken transformative initiatives to improve governance and effective delivery of service of social security benefits to the organised workers through efficient use of technology and we are gradually expanding its coverage to unorganised sector workers too.

5.      We are revising our wage policies. We have recently declared a national floor level minimum wage. The legislative amendments  to Minimum wages also propose to make it applicable to every employment as against the existing set up where only a limited number of listed employments are entitled for minimum wages.

6.      The common challenges for BRICS nations emerge from our similarities in population size, duality of labour markets, importance of SMEs in our economies and  issue of marginalised workforce such as women, youth and other vulnerable segments of the population. The common platform that BRICS provides us can help us create collective response to these challenges based on shared good practices and collaboration mechanisms.

7.      As you know, at our first meet in Ufa, early this year under Russian Presidency, we recommended for establishing an Employment Working Group in the context of on-going labour, employment and social inclusion challenges.   Now as the chair of the BRICS, India proposes to convene the first meeting of the BRICS Employment Working Group on 27-28th July 2016 at Hyderabad. I and my officials shall look forward for the participation of your officials in the meet.   We also propose to hold the Meeting of Labour and Employment Ministers later in the year in September 2016 for  which I will invite you for in due course. 

8.      I am sure, together through our constructive deliberations in this forum, we can address labour, employment and social issues to foster strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, but also take positive and affirmative steps to address the challenges in the area.

 
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