MoS Finance holds pre-Budget consultation trade unions

Representatives from various trade unions and labour organisations on Saturday called for alignment of skill development initiatives with aspirations of rural youth with a focus on agriculture.

In pre-Budget consultations with Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, they also called for strict enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act and introduction of a comprehensive unemployment insurance scheme.

Discussions were held on providing social security to labour besides skilling, re-skilling, and up-skilling of the existing labour force. The quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers were also discussed in detail besides the issue of rehabilitation of workers who have lost their jobs.

Along with Thakur, the meeting was also attended by Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Expenditure Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu, CBDT Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody, CBIC Chairman P K Das, Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment Anuradha Prashad, Director General of V V Giri National Labour Institute H Srinivas and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.