In its first meeting to be held on August 3, the newly constituted Working Group on Labour Matters will take up the issue of creation of jobs, says a labour ministry circular. The working group will examine the employment profile in organised and unorganised sectors.In the meeting, the group is likely to deliberate on the possibility of direct interventions by either labour ministry or state labour departments in order to enhance job creation.The circular states that the group needs to look beyond manufacturing; transport, storage and communication; and community services. It says, ‘in addition, agriculture and trade for unorganised sector have to be focussed for generating employment’.One of the major concerns identified in the circular is the problem of unemployment among educated youth, which as per latest government figures hovers at 19.6 per cent. Also on the agenda is ‘bridging the rural-urban digital job divide, with a special attention to vulnerable groups, so that inclusive growth becomes a reality’.The group will look at providing vocational training and skill development of the unemployed, apart from the overhaul of existing Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). The issue of ‘flexibility’ in the labour market — in terms of size, type of workforce, duration of work and location of work place — along with security for workers, a major irritant in improving employer-worker relationship is expected to be taken up later.The working group had been formed earlier this month and was given the task of looking into important labour issues and suggest to the government ways of moving forward.
