Need to improve workers' employment conditions for strong recovery: Bhupender Yadav

New Delhi: Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday underlined the need for improving employment conditions of workers for a strong and resilient recovery post pandemic.

Yadav attended the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ meeting at Bali, Indonesia on September 13-14, 2022.

He spoke about the importance of countries coming together for promotion of responsive and robust policies relating to employment generation, social protection, skilling and formalization, in the post-pandemic period for ensuring a more resilient, equitable and sustainable recovery.

He also commended Indonesia for selecting the priority areas critical in the ever-changing world of work, a labour ministry statement said.

These priority areas are labour market integration of persons with disabilities, sustainable growth and productivity in human capacity development through strengthening community-based vocational training.

Other priority areas are promoting entrepreneurship and supporting small and medium enterprises (SME) as a job creation instrument and adapting labour protection for more effective protection and increased resilience for all workers.

The union minister also highlighted the exemplary achievements of India in all these areas.

He underscored the provisions made in the social security code for providing social security to the gig and platform workers. and emphasized that skill development is being aligned to the need of future of work.

Yadav said experiences gained from this year’s G20 Employment Working Group meetings would aid India in its upcoming presidency and contribute to the country's pursuit of securing labour welfare, in light of the dynamic nature of the 21st century world of work.

He also held several bilateral meetings with countries including Germany, Singapore, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Turkiye.

He said the Migration and Mobility Agreement and Social Security Agreement should be signed at the earliest for facilitating ease of mobility and ensuring social security to the international workers.