Ministry of Labour & Employment
The Two-Day National Conference with Labour
Ministers and Secretaries of States & UTs in New
Delhi, chaired by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union
Minister for Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs
& Sports Concluded Today
Labour Welfare for Building & Construction Workers,
along with Gig & Platform Workers, is a Top Priority
for the Government of India, said Dr. Mandaviya
Chintin Shivir Provides Collaborative Platform for
Cross-Learning and Sharing Best Practices
Demonstrated by States/UTs
Three Committees Formed to Develop Sustainable
Model for Comprehensive Social Security Coverage
Posted On: 30 JAN 2025 3:53PM by PIB Delhi
The two-day Workshop with Hon’ble Labour Ministers and Labour Secretaries of States & UTs, concluded
today under the Chairmanship of Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Labour & Employment and
Youth Affairs & Sports. Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Hon’ble Minister of State for the Ministry of Labour and
Employment, along with Hon’ble Labour Ministers from various States/UTs, Ms. Sumita Dawra, Secretary,
Ministry of Labour & Employment, and senior officials from States/UTs, were present during the workshop.
These meetings marked a successful culmination of the six regional workshops and several other
consultations, held over the last year with all 36 States and UTs. Over ten subjects during the five sessions
spread over two days, were extensively discussed and inputs gathered, with the objective to design targeted
action items. Three Committees comprising five States each were formed. Building on the discussions during
the workshop, these Committees will hold consultations and develop a sustainable model for comprehensive
social security coverage for workers, to be presented in March 2025.
Taking note of the deliberations and suggestions made during the two-day workshop, the Union Minister
during his address laid out a comprehensive action plan for all stakeholders. He urged States to assess the
feasibility of adopting best practices showcased by different States/UTs during the last two days. He
emphasized that the Ministry is committed and would continue to work closely with State Governments to
design various reforms and initiatives to ensure welfare of organized and unorganized workers. Holistic and
sustainable welfare programmes providing pension, healthcare, life and accident insurance, etc. are being
discussed.
Social security for unorganized sector workers, such as the ones in Building and Construction work, in the gig
& platform economy, and other sectors was extensively discussed. The Union Minister emphasized
developing sustainable social security models for these workers. Further, the welfare of contract labour and
the transformation of the role of the inspector to inspector-cum-facilitator were the other main agenda items
for day two.
States showcased the progress made in utilizing BOCW cess funds in giving social security coverage, besides
developing education and skill development institutions for children of Building and Construction Workers.
Innovative ways of utilizing these resources for providing various social welfare initiatives like pension were
widely deliberated.
Progress made in onboarding unorganized workers onto the eShram portal showcased the Government’s
efforts towards strengthening the last-mile delivery of benefits to these workers. So far over 30 crore
unorganized workers are registered on the eShram portal. The Ministry is also working on designing a
dedicated Social Security and Welfare Scheme for Gig & Platform workers. Modalities of funding, data
collection, and administration of the Scheme were discussed and States were urged to prioritize the sharing of
data of unorganized workers, with a focus on gig & platform workers and support in their registration on
eShram on mission mode. Integration of eShram and Government portals like NCS, and SIDH are
contributing to promoting employment generation, employability, skill development, etc.
Shift from inspector to inspector-cum-facilitator model was another major reform discussed with State/UT
administrators. The overall objective of this reform is to reduce the compliance burden and promote ease of
doing business, along with ensuring decent working conditions, equal opportunities at work and improved
employee-employer relationships.
Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Hon’ble Minister of State for Ministry of Labour and Employment during her
closing remarks, underscored the important contribution made by India’s workforce in achieving the goal of
becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Maximizing social security coverage and ensuring labour welfare of both
organized and unorganized workers was the main goal of all the consultations held over last year and this two-
day Chintin Shivir. She reiterated the whole-of-Government approach needed to take all the initiatives to a
logical conclusion in a time-bound manner.
Engaged in the spirit of cooperative federalism, the two-day meetings displayed the Government’s
commitment towards promoting labour welfare and facilitating ease of doing business and promoting
industrial growth across States/UTs.
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Himanshu Pathak
(Release ID: 2097602)
