Union Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday highlighted India’s strides in labour welfare and social security during his address at the plenary session of the 113th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva. Representing India, he outlined key achievements and advocated for balanced global labour standards.
India’s unemployment rate has dropped from 6% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2024, with over 7.5 crore formal sector jobs created in the past seven years. The Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, with a budget of approximately $12.81 billion, is set to further boost formal employment. The National Career Service (NCS) portal is being enhanced to connect Indian workers with global job opportunities, facilitating international labour mobility.
The Minister emphasized India’s efforts to integrate gig and platform workers, projected to reach 23.5 million by 2030, into the mainstream. The e-Shram portal, a national database of over 300 million unorganised workers, including gig workers, enables targeted social protection. India’s social security coverage has surged from 24.4% in 2019 to 64.3% in 2025, benefiting around 940 million people, supplemented by food and health security schemes.
Addressing the ILC’s discussions on biological hazards, Dr. Mandaviya supported worker protections but cautioned against overly broad definitions that extend beyond workplaces, particularly for informal sectors and MSMEs. He proposed a risk-tiered approach to balance safety and operational realities, urging the ILO to consider diverse national contexts in setting global standards.
India’s Code on Social Security 2020 recognizes platform workers as a distinct category, and the country is fostering an education-to-employment ecosystem by aligning universities, industry, and skilling centers. .