The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to convene the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the most recent session of which was held in 2015, at the earliest.
In a letter, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Central trade union said the ILC was “required to uphold the noble tradition of tripartism in the country” and that India being a founding member of the International Labour Organisation had traditionally “upheld the high ideals of tripartism”.
The letter, written by BMS general secretary Binoy Kumar Sinha, said the ILC was held every year or after two years in exceptional circumstances. The BMS added that it was only during the Emergency that the ILC was not held.
“On every issue related to labour, the government used to sit with labour representatives and employer representatives regularly and chalk out solutions. India also has a legal obligation to do so since the Indian Parliament has ratified Convention No. 144 of the ILO related to strengthening tripartite mechanism,” the letter stated.
The BMS said the ILC was last held in 2015, when Mr. Modi also attended.
Many burning issues
“For various reasons, for the last six years, the ILC was not held, while the country was confronted with many burning issues related to labour. Today several burning issues like that of migrant workers, labour law reforms, informal sector workers, contract workers in the formal sector, loss of jobs and wage reduction during the pandemic, social security, increasing marginalisation of women workers etc. are all matters of high concern for the workers in India,” the letter said.
Asking Mr. Modi to take steps to convene a session at the earliest, the BMS also requested him to attend the ILC.
