Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held her 5th Pre-Budget Consultation with the representatives of various Trade Unions and Labour Organisations here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.

During the course of meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding labour and employment issues. Discussions were held on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of existing labour force. Quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers were discussed.

Along with the Union Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Singh, Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs; Shri Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser; Shri Heeralal Samariya, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment; Shri H. Srinivas, DG, V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.

During the meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding job creation, labour concerns and quality of employment issues. The participants aired their concerns about provision of social security to labour besides skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of existing labour force. They also emphasised quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers in detail besides the need for streamlining various schemes to have better results. Experts and representatives from various Trade Unions (TUs) and Labour Organisations gave suggestions related to skill development in labour intensive areas, alignment of  skill development initiatives with cluster developments, creation of dedicated fund for skill enhancement ,  allocation of more funds to MGNREGA scheme, increase of number of days of work under MGNREGA,  legislation for various welfare schemes for permanent benefits, profiling job according to skill-sets, separate fund for revival of job creation via MSMEs,   increase in social sector spending, unorganised sector workers’ benefits including land less farm labourers , strengthening of tripartite & bipartite mechanisms, consultations with TUs for finalising Code on Safety , Industrial Relations & Social Security .

Participants from various labour organisations included Shri B. Surendran, All India Organising Secretary, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh BMS); Shri Santosh Roy, National Secretary, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU); Shri Anil Bhardwaj, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME); Shri Ashok Singh, Vice President, India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC); Shri Satyawan, Member, All India Secretariat All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC);  Shri M. Shanmugam, M.P. General Secretary, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF); Ms Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC); Shri Swadesh Dev Roye, National Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU);  Shri Mukesh Galav, Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha; Ms Malini Shah, National Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA);  Mr Satoshi Sasaki, Dy. Director, ILODWT for South Asia and Country Office for India; Shri K.V. Shekhar Raju, Immediate Past National President, The Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII);  Shri Sanjay Katkamar , General Secretary, Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC); Shri D.L. Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Yarns & Threads Ltd.; Shri Arvind Francis, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI, Shri Pawan Kumar, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) among others.

Social security and minimum wage enforcement urged to strengthen labour protections, with legislation and tripartite consultations to guide reforms. Emphasis on strengthening labour protections through expanded social security coverage and minimum wage enforcement, supported by legislation, streamlined schemes, and consultations with trade unions to finalise the Code on Safety, Industrial Relations & Social Security. Concurrent measures include prioritising skilling, re skilling and up skilling aligned with sectoral clusters, creation of dedicated funds for skill enhancement and MSME job revival, increased rural employment support, job profiling by skill, and reinforcement of tripartite and bipartite mechanisms to extend benefits to unorganised and landless labourers.