Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav has told the Labour20 (L20) group under India’s G20 presidency to focus on universal social security and its portability across the world, and particularly work to bring the informal sector under the ambit of social security.

Addressing the L20 meeting at Amritsar virtually, the Minister said, “There has to be a sustainable mix of social insurance and social assistance schemes for social security.”

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He said, “We need to collectively ensure that our workers are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in this dynamic environment.”

Keeping in line with the vision of ‘Nari shakti’ or ‘Women Power’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Labour and Employment Minister said women’s participation in labour force has to be enhanced which would in turn lead to creation of equitable, inclusive and developed society.

The minister said G20’s theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ signifies the concept of one earth, one family and one future. He said the Prime Minister’s vision of making G20 decisive and action oriented, inspires all to achieve concrete outcome for G20 meetings.

Over the years, the G20 and L20 meetings have attempted to address the issues of labour market challenges through a variety of policy initiatives that have been widely agreed upon, he said.

In addition, the emergence of digital technology and technological transformation have resulted in unprecedented changes in the world of work, including the rise of new forms of employment, digitalization, gig economy and skill deficits, he said.

Yadav said L20 under the aegis of G20 chose concrete and relevant themes such as universal social security, portability of social security fund, increasing women’s participation in labour force and future of work.

He said the world has resolved to recover together and to make the recovery a human centric process. He was sure that all trade unions across G20 countries will come out with actionable outcomes.

L20 Chair and national president of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Hiranmay Pandya said that in tune with the spirit of G20 in 2023, the work force of the world is one family.

The L20 group discussed issues concerning global workforce to provide direction to the G20 nations to focus on development reaching to the last person. Trade union leaders, labour studies experts and delegates from 20 nations including from previous presidency, Indonesia, and next presidency, Brazil, participated in the discussions.