Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun
Kharge led the Nation in paying tribute to the late
Shri V.V. Giri, former President of India on his
birth anniversary today. Varahagiri Venkata Giri was born on August
10, 1894 at Berhampur in the district of Ganjam in Orissa. Shri Mallikarjun Kharge presented the
V.V. Giri Memorial Award – 2009 to Dr. Ravi S. Srivastava the Professor
of Economics and Chairman of the Centre for the study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru
University in New Delhi on the occasion. V.V. Giri Memorial Award was instituted by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute an autonomous body of the
Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, as a mark of respect
and remembrance to the invaluable contributions made by Late Shri V.V. Giri, a champion of labour movement. in
2008. The Award which includes Rs. 1 lakh and a citation recognizes the excellence in labour
research. The theme for the V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2009 was research on labour migration.
Prof. Ravi S. Srivastava,
an internationally acclaimed scholar, has made significant contributions to
labour research in general and research on labour migration, rural labour and
livelihoods in particular. His focus on labour migration has been through
integrating studies on internal migration, particularly seasonal migration,
with labour market dynamics. Prof. Srivastava’s
research work has significantly broadened the understanding of the inextricable
linkage between migration and development, especially in developing
countries. Prof. Srivastava’s
research has also specially focused on the policy related aspects of labour
migration, including labour regulation, social security, health, education and
other public policy entitlements of the migrants and their families.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge paid rich tributes to Late Shri V.V. Giri, the former President of India for his outstanding
contributions towards designing and evolving in labour policy in India. He noted that labour migration, the theme
chosen for V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2009, has emerged
as an integral part of the livelihood strategies of the poor in India. He said that the present Government is
committed towards improving the conditions of the migrant workers, both
national as well as international. He
noted that the enactment of the Unorganised Workers’
Social Security Act, 2008 has been a major policy initiative for addressing the
social security requirements of the disadvantaged workers of the unorganised sector, including the migrant workers. Shri Kharge said
that the present Government is also committed to discourage distress migration
as those who migrate in distress conditions are often exploited. He highlighted that the bold and innovative
initiative of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005,
has, inter alia, considerably reduced distress
migration especially from the backward regions.
He emphasized that providing decent working conditions, improving the
quality of life for workers, enhancing employability through employment
services and skill development on a sustainable basis are the major pillars of
the labour policy of the present Government.
Following is the text of the Speech of the Minister of Labour and
Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge
on the occasion:
I consider it as a great honour to be present here on this historic
occasion to confer the V.V. Giri Memorial Award
2009.
This is an occasion for each and every one of us to pay our respect and
tribute to Late Shri V.V. Giri, the former President
of India, who has made outstanding contributions towards designing and evolving
labour policy in India. He was a champion of labour movement and a
person who was largely responsible for ensuring that labour and employment
issues figured prominently in all policy discussions relating to growth and
development.
I am really happy that V.V. Giri Memorial
Award, 2009 is being conferred on Prof. Ravi Srivastava of the Jawaharlal Nehru
University. Prof. Srivastava’s research and writings have contributed
significantly in the formulation of development policies in India,
especially those addressing the needs of the disadvantaged sections of the
society. This year’s award is based on
the theme of migration. Labour Migration is an integral part of the livelihood
strategies of the poor in India. The present Government is committed towards
improving the conditions of the migrant workers, both national as well as
international. At the national level,
the enactment of the Unorganised Workers’ Social
Security Act, 2008 is considered as a major policy initiative for addressing
the social security requirements of the disadvantaged workers in the unorganised sector, including the migrant workers. Significant proportion (nearly 58 per cent)
of the workforce in India
is self employed and a large proportion of them encounter various kinds of
social and income insecurities. The Unorganised
Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, in fact, is one of the pioneering efforts
to address the social security requirements of the self employed categories of
the workforce, especially those who are earning low levels of income. Another major strategy of the present
Government is to discourage distress migration. This is very important as
several studies and reports have pointed out that those who migrate in distress
are the most exploited. Viewed in this perspective, I am privileged to note
that the innovative and bold initiative of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, has, inter-alia, considerably reduced distress migration,
especially from backward regions.
Similarly, a number of initiatives have been taken to protect the
interests of Indian workers migrating overseas for employment purposes. The Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana, 2006 provides for
comprehensive insurance cover for the Indian workers migrating abroad for employment. India has also signed bilateral
agreements with several major labour importing countries to address the
requirements of the migrant workers such as the portability of social security
benefits and the protection against exploitative employment practices. It is important to note that the contribution
of the Indian migrant workers has been very significant, especially in terms of
remittances. Today, India is the
largest recipient of workers’ remittances in the world amounting to nearly 50
billion dollars in 2009-2010. This
contribution has been extremely crucial from the perspective of managing our
foreign exchange resources.
Our Government is committed to providing decent working conditions,
improving the quality of life for workers, enhancing employability through
employment services and skill development on sustainable basis. A number of
measures have been put in place to improve and expand the skill base of the
workforce. Prime Minister’s Council for
Skill Development has been set up as an apex body for policy, advice, direction
and review in matters relating to skill development. The Prime Minister’s Council has endorsed the
vision to create 500 million skilled people by 2022 through skill development
system which must have high degree of inclusivity in
terms of gender, rural/urban, organised/unorganised,
and traditional/contemporary.
It is evident that a number of measures are being initiated to improve
the quality of work and work relations in India. However, we are aware of
fact that we still have a long way to go in addressing the existing
insecurities especially among the unorganised
workers. Evolving sustainable policies
to address existing and the emerging challenges must be based on strong
research foundations. I am confident
that researchers like Prof. Ravi Srivastava
and several others will continue to contribute to this endeavor by undertaking
more and more systematic research addressing the needs of the unorganised sector workers. I sincerely hope the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute will provide the leadership
to promote such labour research.
I wish each and every one of you the very best in your professional endeavours.
Jai Hind
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YSK / PM