Bandaru speech at G20 Labour and Employment ministerial meeting: Full text

Chairperson of this G20 Labour Ministerial, Fellow ministers, representatives of international organizations and dear friends.

At the outset, I would like to thank Chinese presidency for hosting us throughout the year and more particularly for this Ministerial Meeting. I also congratulate Chinese Presidency for leading G20 Employment Working Group very constructively on issues which are most topical and critical today. As we recognize the shadow of slow economic growth and low job creation is still hovering around all the world economies, G 20 deliberations should help us to collectively find workable solutions to these challenges.

For Government of India, generating adequate job opportunities is the first priority. We are striving to achieve the high growth trajectory which is reflected in creation of sustainable and quality jobs for the huge working age population of India. We also recognize that Employment Generation is the only sustainable policy response to poverty alleviation which is also the first goal of the 2030 Agenda. Employment generation preferably in formal sector with well-paid jobs and adequate social security ensures inclusiveness and lesser inequality in the labour market and leads to sustainable development goal of Decent Work and Economic growth.

Governments have the obligation to design and implement policies and program to accelerate the pace of economic activities which result in job creation and thereby ensures high growth rate which is sustainable and inclusive. For this, Entrepreneurship has been recognized by India as the apt platform to boost innovation based and technology led businesses. A number of forward looking strategic amendments to the existing policy ecology have been introduced to support Startups and MSMEs to make India a nation of job creators instead of job seekers. An Action Plan for Start Up India has been unveiled containing items spanning across areas such as “Simplification and handholding”, “Funding support an incentives” and “Industry-academia partnership and incubation”. Very recently ‘Fund of Funds’ has been set in line with Start Up Action Plan to provide financial support to start ups and create 1.8 million additional jobs. To create jobs through start up India initiative in rural India, Deendayal Upadhyay Swaniyojan Yojana is under consideration. We are happy that the innovation and entrepreneurship have been recognised as the drivers of growth and employment generation by G20.

Very recently Government of India has come up with ‘Model Shop and Establishment Act’ which will allow all shops and establishments including small retailers, hotels, malls, cinema and IT/ITES establishments to remain open round the clock. The Act allows night work by women conditional to adequate safety and other working arrangement provisions. We believe that this will create manifold job opportunities for skilled workforce youth and women; better utilize the infrastructure and bring much needed flexibility in working hours without compromising on standards of working hours or weekly rest. The Act is expected to be adopted by the States and the competition between the States will further help to boost the outcomes.

Make in India is one of the flagship programs of government of India which aim to convert India into manufacturing hub, boost investment climate and improve ease of doing business to create employment on massive scale and correct regional imbalances. Micro and Small Enterprises have been given special attention as they provide employment to the vulnerable groups like uneducated, unskilled, school/college dropouts etc. Therefore MSME is not only the employment provider, but also shoulder the responsibility of containing social issues. In India constant attempts are made to facilitate support to first generation entrepreneurs and provide support to capacity building of the already existing enterprises for its growth.
In most of the developing countries like India a majority of work force is engaged in unorganized sector. We have been constantly striving to enable transition from informality to formality. Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana launched by our government is one such step in a bid to create more formal sector jobs. Under this scheme the Government will share the burden of social security obligation of employers to motivate / encourage them to generate more jobs. Recently a package of Rs. 60 Billion has been announced for Textile Sector which is an addition in the line of measures taken to enhance social security and to create 10 million jobs as this industry has very high potential to create jobs especially for women.

We want to universalize social security scheme coverage to the masses through handholding and easy affordability so that beneficiaries are prevented from exploitation and further vulnerability. To make the financial inclusion and social security initiatives more broad based and targeted, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is another pathbreaking initiative. 221.8 million Bank accounts have already been opened under the scheme which would also facilitate transfer of social security benefits directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries. Pradhan Mantri Jan Suraksha is another initiative with 3 schemes in its ambit, aimed at providing old age pension cover, accidental insurance and life insurance cover to people at large. The coverage under institutional framework available to formal sector workers is being expanded to cover additional categories of unorganized workers.

Another challenge which we face is extremely low proportion of skilled workforce. Only 2% of workers have formally obtained skill training. So, their employability remains low despite being increasing demand for the skilled labour force in the labour market. To overcome this challenge multi-pronged policy has been adopted to augment skilled workforce. In 2015-16, 104 million people were skilled as per the official release which is a quantum leap of 36%. We are taking sector specific targeted approach through Sector Skill Councils, strengthening ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ and developing National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). To bring job seekers, employers and training providers on a common platform with efficient use of information technology, National Career Service (NCS) Portal has been launched. The portal has already collaborated with various private platforms like Monster and Uber. Recommendations to make NCS as the single platform for posting government jobs is under consideration. The initiative has successfully registered 40 million job seekers, one million job providers and 100 thousand vacancies have also been posted since July 2015.

Information Technology is our strength and we are leveraging it to achieve ease in compliance and effective enforcement of labour laws. We have initiated online filing of a self-certified, single consolidated return under various labour laws by the establishments. The multilingual portal created for the purpose is an evidence of ease of doing business so as to catalyzing the creation of employment opportunities in the country, without diluting basic aspect of safety, security and health of workers. Further, we are in the process of making labour laws simple, rational and transparent to encourage more formal sector jobs without harming labour rights.
To conclude, I would like to again thank China for hosting this Ministerial Meet. We look forward to leaders’ summit to endorse our recommendations.

Thank you.