RSS labour arm to discuss poor job avenues with PM

Shrinking avenues for employment, social security for contractual employees and declining domestic production — these are some of the issues that the labour arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will raise with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the upcoming Indian Labour Conference (ILC) in June.

In the backdrop of reported job cuts by IT industry majors and a sluggish economy, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) — claiming to have a membership of almost one crore across states and more than 5,000 affiliate unions — wants the government to revisit its economic policies so that more jobs are added and entrepreneurship gets a fillip.

The ILC is a tripartite consultative committee in the Ministry of labour and employment to advise the government on issues related to the working class. Twelve central trade unions, central organisations of employers, all state governments and central ministries concerned with the agenda items are its members.

“We have been moving in the wrong direction, which is why we can see jobs cuts and negative growth in the economic sector. We need to focus on agro-based economy, on self-employment, on handholding the traditional sectors that add jobs,” Vrijesh Upadhyay, general secretary of the BMS told HT.

Social security for the contractual workers, job security for women, especially after the passage of the new maternity bill and the proposed labour law reforms will be on the BMS’ agenda for the ILC.