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India and the G-20

Brief regarding India’s G20 Presidency (2023)

A. History and Mandate of the G20 Employment Working Group

  • In 2011, G20 Leaders expressed their belief that “employment must be at the heart of the actions and policies to restore strong, sustainable and balanced growth”. This resulted in establishing on an ad-hoc basis for one year, a Task Force on Employment (TFE).
  • In 2014, taking into consideration the impact of TFE’s role on growth, labour, employment and social challenges, G20 Leaders agreed to the transformation of the TFE to an Employment Working Group (EWG) as an on-going function at the recommendation of G20 Labour and Employment Ministers.
  • The EWG’s mandate is to address priority labour, employment and social issues to further develop strong, sustainable, balanced, inclusive and job-rich growth.
  • The annual agenda of the EWG will be developed by the incumbent G20 presidency in accordance with the mandate of the EWG, the Leaders’ Communiqué and the Labour and Employment Ministers’ Declaration in collaboration with G20 member countries and in consultation with international organizations and social partners.
  • Given the importance of continuity regarding the work carried out under consecutive G20 presidencies, the EWG will work under a multi-year agenda that is guided by its mandate. The multi-year agenda will be developed by the EWG members, reviewed annually and renewed when deemed necessary.


B. India’s G20 Presidency and the Priority Areas

  • India has assumed the Presidency of the G20, which is a key global forum of major economies of the world for discussing and addressing critical challenges being faced by the international community. This is a historic opportunity for India to showcase its vibrant culture and rich heritage, along with its achievements and capabilities
  • In order to further the multi-year agenda of the G20 Employment Working Group, the following priority areas have been identified for its consideration:


  1. Addressing Global Skill Gaps
  2. Gig and Platform Economy and Social Protection
  3. Sustainable Financing of Social Security

 

C. Schedule of meetings for EWG meetings and LEMM under Indian Presidency

  • Four meetings of the Employment Working Group have been planned by MoLE for the year 2023 under the Indian Presidency. The deliberations on the three priority areas during the four EWG meetings will culminate into the Labour and Employment Ministers Meetings on 21st July, 2023. The schedule of the meetings is given below-
No. Meeting Month Date City

1.

1st Employment Working Group Meeting

February

02-04 February

Jodhpur

2.

2nd  Employment Working Group Meeting

April

03-05 April

Guwahati

3.

3rd  Employment Working Group Meeting

June

01-02 June

Geneva

4.

4th  Employment Working Group Meeting

July

19-20 July

Indore

5.

Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting

July

21 July

Indore

6.

Labour 20 Inception meeting

March

06-07 March

Patna

7.

Labour 20 Summit

June

22-23 June

Amritsar

D. Rationale and Deliverables for the Three Priority Areas

The tabulated list of rationale and expected outcomes for the three priority areas is given below-

Priority Area Rationale Expected Outcomes

Addressing Global Skill Gaps

Due to demographic differences, member countries are facing skill gaps. Global  skill gap mapping will identify requirements of skills and workforce in  G20 countries.

a. Development of an international skill gap mapping portal for assessment of current and future labour market trends and skills needs.

b. Undertaking skills demand assessment on a periodic basis disaggregated by industries, occupations etc.

c. Development of a unified framework for skills and qualifications harmonization across G20 countries, focusing on recognition of skills and qualifications, common skill taxonomies and harmonization templates.

Gig and Platform Economy and Social Protection

Gig and platform economy provides opportunity for workers to transcend the limitations of work-time and work-space, enabling more workers to integrate with labour market. However, challenges remain with regards to providing social protection  to them due to non-existence of traditional employer-employee relationship.

a.  The Employment Working Group will bring relevant G20 country experiences to help in formulating a series of recommendations on how to extend social protection coverage to a larger group of workers in the platform and gig economies. This will facilitate the development of tools for monitoring progress on social protection to gig and platform workers.

b. Guidance on how national statistical capacities and methodological approaches can be enhanced to better capture emerging forms of work, including gig and platform work. Also provide guidance on how platforms and technology could themselves be leveraged to aid in data collection more effectively.

c. The production of statistics on the platform economy will codify the information of various categories of workers on different platforms. It will enable the employers as well as workers to explore the opportunities presented by digital platforms among the G20 nations.

Sustainable Financing of Social Security

Providing       Social Security to large population of workers is a major goal. Providing pension, insurance, medical schemes etc. continues to be a challenge.  It requires exploring alternatives to generate and expand resources involving governments, employees and other stakeholders.

a.  Sharing of best practices and sustainable financing mechanism for providing universal social security coverage.

b. Providing recommendations on which welfare entitlements should be prioritized based on available fiscal space, and what combination of contributions, tax structures, and other resources of finance could support provisions of social security entitlements.

c.   Explore what international development assistance and mechanisms are available to support social security systems in G20 countries.

d. Development of policy options, including social insurance schemes, tax-financed schemes, or a mix of both to ensure sustainable financing of social security.