“We do not
accept linking trade with labour standards…..the ILO Declaration on Social
Justice for a Fair Globalization explicitly states that the violation of
fundamental principles and rights at work cannot be invoked or otherwise used
as a legitimate comparative advantage and that labour standards should not be
used for protectionist trade purposes,” Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of
Labour and Employment (LEM) said
in the G-20 Meeting of Labour & Employment Ministers on the
sidelines of the 100th International Labour Conference on 14th
June 2011 in Geneva.
Shri Kharge said that the employment challenges in coming years are immense
and expressed concerns about making employment opportunities accessible to the
poor and weaker sections of our society. He further said that India has
formulated its National Skill Development Policy to meet the
challenges of skill development through a three tier institutional
structure consisting of Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development,
Skill Development Co-ordination Board and National Skill Development
Corporation. A new scheme, MODULAR EMPLOYABLE
SKILLS under our Skill Development
Initiative Scheme was started in the year 2007 with an objective to train one
million persons in short term modular courses in five years and then one
million every year thereafter, particularly in the unorganized sector.
On social protection, Shri Kharge told that various kinds of social security
schemes are already in operation for workers in organized sector and that
Government has taken several initiatives to safeguard the interest of
unorganized sector workers. An important recent initiative to safeguard the
interest of unorganized workers has been enactment of the Unorganized Workers’
Social Security Act, 2008 and establishment of a National Social Security Fund.
He further told that while we support that a Social Protection Floor should be
there, we strongly feel that the level should be decided by each member
country. We are not in favour of a uniform social security floor prescribed for
all countries. Each country should develop its own Social Security Floor based
on its resources, requirements and socio-economic realities. We strongly feel that Social Protection Floor
(SPF) should not be used as a
non-tariff barrier to Trade.
On Fundamental Rights at Work, Shri Kharge said that the Constitution of India guarantees
equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment and
prohibits discrimination on any ground. India has also ratified ILO Conventions
C-100 and C-111 on Equal Remuneration and Discrimination respectively. He
stressed that respect for Fundamental Rights goes much beyond ratification and
we are more concerned with implementation of these principles at the ground
level. He emphasized that though India respects labour standard issues, at the
same time we do not want to link it with issues such as Trade and non-tariff
barriers.
LEM also underlined the need for enhancing
coherence between international organizations and governments on complementary
issues. The specific area on which
coherence is sought at international as well as national levels needs to be
spelled out clearly. He strongly insisted that trade should not be linked with
labour standards and coherence should not be used for generating non-tariff
barriers. He expressed that the global community should come forward with more
focused and coordinated policies in the process of economic recovery by
creating more employment opportunities, skill upgradation, enhancing social
protection and providing decent working condition and that there is enormous potential for us to learn
from each other.
LEM concluded by stating that a
global coordinated effort will make a strong contribution to the G20 Framework
for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth for the Global economy.
Text of the Speech of LEM on G-20 Meeting of Labour & Employment
Ministers on the sideline of the 100th ILC, 14th June
2011, Geneva follows:
Mr. Chairman,
It gives me immense pleasure
to address the G-20 Meeting of Labour & Employment Ministers on the
sideline of the 100th ILC in Geneva.
I am hopeful that this meeting will help in promoting as well as in formulating
coordinated measures on the four issues being highlighted in the current G20,
Paris.
2. In our country,
the employment challenges in coming
years are immense which range from generating productive employment at an
accelerated rate to improving the quality of employment through skill
development. Generation of Productive Employment and decent working conditions
is crucial for inclusive growth. India has a large percentage, 58%
of population in the working age group (15-59 years). We are concerned about
making employment opportunities accessible to the poor and weaker sections of
our society. We have initiated many schemes and are working to provide skills
and training to our vast labour force which is largely in the unorganized sector. However, in India we have more of structural
unemployment which is more prevalent in developing countries whereas the
developed countries have more of cyclical unemployment. It has to be discussed
as to how we can have a coordinated policy on employment because though our
objectives are the same but the action plan adopted to promote full employment
and quality jobs may have to be different. We strongly support international
efforts to encourage and facilitate mobility of labour. India strongly feels that over
emphasis on indicators/standards/Policy recommendation should not appear in the
G-20 prescription to the developing countries/ and to Least Industrialized
Countries (LICs) lest it should result in protectionism.
3. India
has formulated its National Skill Development Policy to meet the
challenges of skill development. A three tier institutional structure
consisting of Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development, Skill
Development Co-ordination Board and National Skill Development Corporation has
been set up to take forward the skill development agenda. We have also taken
various steps for upgradation of Government Industrial Training Institutes
(ITIs). A new scheme, MODULAR EMPLOYABLE
SKILLS under our Skill Development
Initiative Scheme was started in the year 2007 with an objective to train one
million persons in short term modular courses in five years and then one
million every year thereafter, particularly in the unorganized sector.
4. Providing social
protection to workers is an important component of social policy in India.
Various kinds of social security schemes are already in operation for workers
in organised sector. These facilities for organised sector workers vary from adequate paid leave to
health insurance and pension schemes. However, unorganised
sector workers lack facilities of such schemes. Recognising
the need to address this limitation, Government has taken several initiatives
to safeguard the interest of unorganised sector
workers. An important recent initiative to safeguard the interest of unorganised workers has been enactment of the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 and
establishment of a National Social Security Fund.
5. We recognize the benefits of social protection because only
when our citizens enjoy health and prosperity, can the economy prosper and we
can achieve a more equitable and balanced growth. While we support that a
Social Protection Floor should be there, we strongly feel that the level should
be decided by each member country. We are not in favour of a uniform social
security floor prescribed for all countries. Social Protection Programmes need to be country driven and one size does not
fit all. Each country should develop its own Social Security Floor based on its
resources, requirements and socio-economic realities. We strongly feel that Social Protection Floor
(SPF) should not be used as a
non-tariff barrier to Trade.
6. We have deep respect for Fundamental Rights at Work and the Constitution of India guarantees
equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment and
prohibits discrimination on any ground. India has also ratified ILO
Conventions C-100 and C-111 on Equal Remuneration and Discrimination respectively.
We have not ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and
Collective Bargaining purely due to technical reasons concerning Government
Servants only. We are in favour of progressively upgrading legislations and
procedural guarantees in keeping with Socio-Economic realities. We believe that
respect for Fundamental Rights goes much beyond ratification and we are more
concerned with implementation of these principles at the ground level. We do not accept linking trade with labour
standards and quoting the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair
Globalization which explicitly states ‘that the violation of fundamental
principles and rights at work cannot be invoked or otherwise used as a
legitimate comparative advantage and that labour standards should not be used
for protectionist trade purposes’, we reiterate that though India respects
labour standard issues, at the same time we do not want to link it with issues
such as Trade and non-tariff barriers.
7. Enhancing coherence between
international organizations and governments on complementary issues is
important. However, achieving Policy
Coherence beyond words requires a concrete framework of policy actions.
Policy Coherence at times can entail co-ordination among various institutions
with different perspectives involving a number of overlapping areas. Hence it
needs to be further defined. The specific area on which coherence is sought at
international as well as national levels needs to be spelled out clearly.
Policy Coherence is very difficult to achieve even at national level where at
times different ministries and different organizations hold conflicting view on
overlapping subjects. Components and modalities of Policy Coherence therefore
need to be further elaborated. We strongly insist that trade should not be
linked with labour standards and coherence should not be used for generating
non-tariff barriers.
8. We feel that the
global community should come forward with more focused and coordinated policies
in the process of economic recovery by creating more employment opportunities,
skill upgradation, enhancing social protection and providing decent working
condition. There is a need to achieve greater coordination and putting across
our common view point on labour and employment issues at the global forum.
There is enormous potential for us to learn from each other. India has adopted some innovative
and quick policy responses to the economic slowdown and these experiences
provide replicable model for evolving a policy measure for a more stable and
sustainable growth and are particularly effective during the time of crisis.
G-20 Countries should come together for improving labour skills to increase
employability of workforce in the post-crisis period. The last few decades have
demonstrated that global economies are truly interdependent and are becoming
increasingly integrated. Globally integrated economies require globally
integrated societies.
Mr. Chairman,
We
hope that the G20 Meeting of Labour & Employment Ministers will examine
what further measures are needed to ensure that employment recovers quickly. We
look forward to having a global coordinated effort to address a number of
challenges that had been building even before the crisis. We believe that a
coordinated effort will make a strong contribution to the G20 Framework for
Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth for the Global economy.
------
YSKataria