Terming the job creation as a top priority for India, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said a key challenge is to ensure sufficient well-paid jobs in formal sectors.
"For India, generating adequate job opportunities is the first priority. We are striving to achieve the high growth trajectory which is reflected in creation of sustainable and quality jobs for the huge working age population of India," he said.
"We also recognise that employment generation is the only sustainable policy response to poverty alleviation which is also the first goal of the 2030 agenda," the minister said at the G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in China.
He said the employment generation preferably in formal sector with well-paid jobs and adequate social security ensures inclusiveness and lesser inequality in the labour market and leads to sustainable development goal of 'Decent Work and Economic growth'.
According to a Labour Ministry statement, Dattatreya said, "As we recognise the shadow of slow economic growth, and low job creation is still hovering around all the world economies, G-20 deliberations should help us to collectively find workable solutions to these challenges."
The minister said, "We are happy that the innovation and entrepreneurship have been recognised as the drivers of growth and employment generation by G20."
He further said, "In most of the developing countries like India a majority of work force is engaged in unorganised sector. We have been constantly striving to enable transition from informality to formality."
The minister also talked about universalisation of social security scheme coverage to the masses through handholding and easy affordability so that beneficiaries are prevented from exploitation and further vulnerability.
"Another challenge which we face is extremely low proportion of skilled workforce. Only 2 per cent of workers have formally obtained skill training. So, their employability remains low despite being increasing demand for the skilled labour force in the labour market. To overcome this challenge, multi-pronged policy has been adopted to augment skilled workforce," the Minister said.
