45th Session of Indian Labour Conference concludes

The 45th Session of the Indian Labour Conference concluded in New Delhi with a resolve to provide universal social security coverage and assured pension to the entire working population.

During the course of Conference the Labour Ministers of State Governments, Central Trade Union Leaders, Employers' representatives, and Officials of the central and state governments also deliberated on service conditions, wages and social security for various categories of workers employed in different Central and State Government schemes.

The conference also discussed on social security with special reference to Assured Pension for all workers including self-employed and labour laws for MSME sector.

Besides, measures to improve employment and employability was also prominently figured in he Conference.

The stakeholders also unanimously agreed for providing universal social security coverage and assured pension to the entire working population. Suggestions were also made for making pension benefits responsive to price rise and to enhance current government spending on social security measures.

All the stakeholders recognized the enormous contribution of the MSME sector in terms of employment, export and economic growth and felt the need for simplification and consolidation of existing laws without compromising crucial aspects related to workers such as wages, social security and conditions of work.

There were also suggestions by social partners to adequately focus on off-farm and on-farm sector and continued investment in infrastructure projects for enhancing employment opportunities.

In context of skill development social partners recommended for strengthening Labour Market Information System (LMIS) to bridge the skill demand-supply mis-match, enhancing the outreach of and access to skill development centres, recognizing MSME enterprises as 'on-the-job training centres and to put in place a National Skills Qualifications Framework to ensure quality assured training and facilitating horizontal and vertical mobility.