Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Labour & Employment said that mainstreaming the North Eastern Region into the developmental process is a priority for Government of India. He was addressing the Review Meeting with Labour Ministers of North Eastern Region at Imphal today, his first Regional Meeting since taken charges. Shri Gangwar also recalled his visits to the North Eastern States as Minister of Textile, to boost the Textile Industries of the Region. Shri Gangwar also expressed his happiness over the detailed and constructive discussion on issues of significant importance. The Review Meeting was attended by Labour Ministers and Labour Secretaries for North Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and Shri N Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur, inaugurated the meeting. The review meeting discussed issues like implementation of the Schemes on Child Labour, Plantation Workers, ESIC Works, Social Security Schemes, BOC Workers Cess Fund, Mines Safety, etc, and for further betterment. The Chief Minister, Shri N Biren Singh in his address stated the statistics about various measures taken up by his Government in the field of improving the worker's conditions of his State. He also profusely thanked
The Labour Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar for choosing Manipur for such an important conference. Shri Gangwar requested the North Eastern States to utilize the BOCW Cess funds of Rs.27,000 Crore, which is available for the safety, health and welfare of Construction Labourers. He suggested that instead of building infrastructures such as Hostel, Technical Centers and Schools, the States may focus on the Social Security & Welfare Schemes for the Construction Workers. He also requested that the Central Government’s Social Security Schemes like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana(PMJJBY) could be used effectively for the welfare of the workers. The government of India has recently ratified ILO conventions on Child Labour. Eradication of Child Labour has been taken very seriously. On the 26th September 2017 Ministry of Labour & Employment has launched an exclusive Portal called PENCIL Portal to ensure a better mechanism to eradicate Child Labour. Minister requested the State Governments of North East States to give a broader publicity of the Portal and work on NCLP implementation.
Shri Gangwar said that he specifically chose North Easter Region (Imphal) to have his first Regional Review Meeting and said that his Ministry is also expanding its footprints in the Region at various levels. ESIC is entering and expanding its coverage here. DGFASLI has already laid the foundation of New Regional Labour Institute at Shillong last year. Tomorrow, V.V.Giri National Labour Institute and Tata Institute of Social Science are entering into a MoU at Guwahati. He emphasized that this collaboration will provide more research in the issue of North Eastern Region and will facilitate better-informed decisions. Shri Gangwar reiterated the priority and importance of a better coordination between Center & State and thanked the States for their participation. The meeting was also attended by Secretary (L&E) Smt. M. Sathiyavathy and other Senior Officers of the Ministry of Labour & Employment.