PM addresses G20 Labour and Employment Ministers Meet
“In this era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology has become and will
remain the core driver for employment”
“Skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling are the mantras for the future workforce”
“India has the potential to become one of the largest providers of skilled
workforce in the world”
“We must consider each country's unique economic capacities, strengths and
challenges. Adopting a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for
sustainable financing of social protection”
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the G20
Labour and Employment Ministers Meet in Indore, Madhya Pradesh via video
message today.
Welcoming
the dignitaries to Indore, the Prime Minister said that the historic and
vibrant city takes pride in its rich culinary traditions and hoped that the
dignitaries get to enjoy the city in all its colours and flavours.
Underlining
that employment is one of the most important economic and social factors, the
Prime Minister said that the world is at the threshold of some of the greatest
changes in the employment sector and stressed the need to prepare responsive
and effective strategies to address these rapid transitions. In this era of the
Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Prime Minister said, technology has become
and will remain the core driver for employment. He highlighted India’s
capability in creating countless technology jobs during the last such
technology-led transformation and also touched upon the host city Indore which
is home to many startups leading the new wave of such transformations.
The
Prime Minister emphasized skilling the workforce with the use of advanced
technologies and processes and said that skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling
are the mantras for the future workforce. He gave examples of India’s ‘Skill
India Mission’ making this a reality, and ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’
which has trained more than 12.5 million of India’s youth so far. “Special
focus is being laid on Industry ‘Four Point O’ sectors like Artificial
Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, and Drones”, the Prime Minister
added.
The
Prime Minister highlighted the skills and dedication of India’s frontline
health workers during Covid and said that it reflects India’s culture of
service and compassion. He said that India has the potential to become one of
the largest providers of skilled workforce in the world and a globally mobile
workforce is going to be a reality in the future. He emphasized G20’s role in
globalizing the development and sharing of skills in the true sense. The Prime
Minister commended the efforts of member nations to initiate the international
referencing of occupations by skills and qualifications requirements. He said
that it requires new models of international cooperation and coordination, and
migration and mobility partnerships. He suggested sharing statistics,
information and data regarding employers and workers for a start which will
empower countries across the globe to formulate evidence-based policies for
better skilling, workforce planning, and gainful employment.
The
Prime Minister pointed out that transformative change is the evolution of new
categories of workers in the gig and platform economy that has emerged as the
pillar of resilience during the pandemic. He added that it offers flexible
working arrangements and also complements income sources. He said that it has
immense potential of generating gainful employment, especially for the youth
while also becoming a transformative tool for socio economic empowerment of
women. Modi emphasized the need to realize its potential and design new-age
policies and interventions for these new-age workers. He suggested finding
sustainable solutions to create opportunities for regular work and coming up
with new models to ensure social security, health and safety. The Prime
Minister threw light on India’s ‘eShram portal’ that has seen almost 280
million registrations and is being leveraged for targeted interventions for
these workers. He further added that countries should adopt similar solutions
as the nature of work has become transnational.
The
Prime Minister pointed out that even though providing social protection to
people is a key aspect of the 2030 Agenda, the current framework adopted by
international organizations only accounts for benefits that are structured in
certain narrow ways while several benefits provided in other forms are not
covered under this framework. Modi underlined that in order to grasp the
correct picture of social protection coverage in India, benefits like universal
public health, food security, insurance and pension programs must be accounted
for. He suggested considering the unique economic capacities, strengths and
challenges of every country as the one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable
for sustainable financing of social protection.
Concluding
the address, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that this meeting will
send out a strong message for the welfare of all workers worldwide. He
appreciated the efforts being made by all dignitaries in addressing some of the
most urgent issues in this field.