Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya calls for stronger industry-worker ties as AI reshapes jobs
New Delhi, September 28
Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday called for stronger dialogue between industries and workers as artificial intelligence, digital technology and changing work patterns reshape the labour landscape, saying India will need to adapt its labour framework while maintaining worker welfare.
Speaking at the CII-EFI National Conference on Industrial Relations and Labour Awards, Mandaviya said industries, workers, trade unions and governments are all stakeholders in India's development and stressed the need for clarity and consultation over implementation of the four labour codes.
"The industry should have clarity, the officers should have clarity, when you dialogue, the solution comes out," Mandaviya said, adding that government teams should engage with industries, lawyers and chartered accountants to resolve questions related to the labour codes.
He said labour rules had to evolve with changes in manufacturing, the IT sector, digital technology and work-from-home arrangements.
Mandaviya also described artificial intelligence as a development that could create both challenges and opportunities, saying workers would need to adapt to technological changes.
"We will not be able to stop time now. Time will keep doing its work. We will have to get along with time," he said, adding that those who adapt to changing circumstances and convert them into opportunities would be able to succeed.
He said India's approach should be to promote industrial growth while sustaining worker welfare, rather than viewing the interests of industry and labour as conflicting.
"We want to move the industries forward. And we want to sustain the welfare of the workers," Mandaviya said, calling this approach part of sustainable development.
Mandaviya said India's economic growth would need to be accompanied by employment generation to ensure sustainable development. He cited figures suggesting that employment generation has risen to 1.118 per cent for every 1 per cent of economic growth, compared with 0.08 per cent earlier.
He also said India's 7.8 per cent economic growth reflected a broader policy effort and highlighted the importance of putting purchasing power into people's hands to support demand, manufacturing and employment.
Mandaviya said the country's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047 would require participation from industries, industrialists, workers and governments, with all sectors acting as stakeholders in the development process.
— ANI
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