The Minister of labour and Minister of Women Canada, Dr. Kellie Leitch met the Union Minister of State for Labour and employment (Independent charge) Bandaru Dattatreya today at Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. The two sides agreed to work on a number of areas of mutual interest in the field of Labour including capacity building for mediation and conciliation and promoting joint certification for skilled workforce in the two countries. Canada and India have longstanding bilateral relations, built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and the presence of a significant indo-canadian population has strengthened the bond. India and Canada has also developed a mutual understanding and partnership at various International labour Fora including ILO and G-20. With the proposed visit of the Prime Minister of India to Canada in, both are confident that the relationship will reach new heights.
Ministry of Labour and Employment is focusing on good governance in labour issues. The Government is working on enhancing transparency, ease of compliance and efficient compliance through better and effective use of technology. A Unified Labour Web Portal (Shram Suvidha Portal) has been developed in Central Sphere which provides a simplified single online return by the Industry for 16 labour Laws. Through effective use of technology, government is trying to promote industrial peace and harmony and to have a conducive environment for inclusive growth and industrial development. To bring in more transparency and accountability in the labour inspection system, Government of India has launched a Formal Labour Inspection Scheme. Under the Scheme, a computerized list of inspections is to be generated based on risk- based criteria as per respective labour Acts. Minister said that we look forward to mutual cooperation in capacity building in labour and sharing of good practices. The Minister added that conciliation and mediation is an area where we would like to associate with Canada for capacity building.
For meeting the skill needs of our industry and for enhancing employability of our youth, Ministry of Labour & Employment has taken several initiatives for qualitative and quantitative improvement in the area of vocational training. Skill portability has been recognised as an effective policy tool to address the demand supply balance for skilled labour across globe. The Ministry is open to exploring the possibility working with Canada on the issue of customisation of curriculum and portability of certification under our new policy of flexi-MoU. Minister also mentioned the initiatives being bilaterally addressed with other countries mainly Germany and Australia and invited Canadian Government to partner in setting up of National workers Vocational Institute. The two sides agreed to take forward the agenda in a focussed and targeted manner. Among others, the Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Smt Gauri Kumar was also present on the occasion.