Government to adopt ILO proposals on unorganised labour

NEW DELHI: The cabinet on Wednesday also approved a proposal to adopt International Labour Organization ( ILO) recommendations on formalising the unorganised workforce in the country. The initiative, which will now be presented to Parliament for approval, seeks to ensure the inclusion of such workers in the formal economy.

The government will have to facilitate the transition of workers and economic units from the informal to the formal economy while respecting workers’ fundamental rights and promote creation, preservation and sustainability of enterprises and jobs in the formal economy,” the government said in a release.

“There is no financial implication on India in adopting the ILO recommendation, which is applicable to all workers in the country which ratifies the instrument,” the government added. India has a workforce of 397.4 million people out of which just 49.7 million are employed in the formal sector while 347.7 million are in the informal sector.

The workforce in the urorganised sector is often deprived of safety and security measures which in turn impact their physical and mental well-being over a period of time. The cabinet also cleared a pact which will pave the way for a Singapore government agency to operate and maintain Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports.

The cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its ex-post facto approval to the memorandum of understanding between the AAI and SCE, an official statement said. The cabinet also approved a proposal for taking up hybrid annuity-based public private partnership (PPP) model under Namami Gange Programme to reform the wastewater sector in India.