Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Labour and Employment held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on February 24, 2025, in New Delhi. The meeting took place on the side-lines of the two-day Regional Dialogue on Social Justice being held in New Delhi and provided a platform to strengthen the partnership between India and the ILO, with a focus on advancing social justice, decent work, and inclusive economic growth.

During the discussion, Dr. Mandaviya underscored India's proactive role as a member of the Coordinating Group of the Global Coalition for Social Justice from the Asia-Pacific region. He expressed India’s interest to champion the Coalition’s key intervention, “Responsible business practices for sustainable and inclusive societies.” He also emphasized India’s dedication to quality employment, skills development, and social protection as pillars of social justice, aligning with the Government’s vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

 

Dr. Mandaviya highlighted that India’s National Career Service portal bridges the gap between job seekers and employers, with over 4 million registered employers and 44 million vacancies mobilised so far.

On social protection, Dr. Mandaviya shared that the e-Shram portal, India’s National Database for Unorganized Workers, has registered over 306 million users, providing them access to social security schemes. With the Government of India’s recent budget announcement, more than 1 crore gig workers will receive unique identity cards and healthcare benefits under the PM Jan Arogya Yojana.

Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, DG ILO, commended India’s progress in enhancing social protection coverage, noting the ILO’s World Social Protection Report (WSPR) 2024-26, which acknowledged the doubling of India’s social protection coverage from 24.4 percent to 48.8 percent in 2024.

Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, DG ILO, appreciated India’s efforts in leveraging digital platforms such as the e-Shram and NCS portals to enhance employment opportunities and social security coverage, acknowledging them as significant steps towards inclusive economic growth. He also acknowledged India’s key and positive role in shaping global social security and labour welfare agenda.

In this context, both leaders agreed to strengthen India’s role in the ILO as a powerful voice for developing economies and a key advocate for global labour welfare. Both the leaders also agreed on the need for a robust and collaborative data pooling exercise to enhance accuracy in social protection coverage assessments in the country.

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Himanshu Pathak

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