APN News, January 27, 2025
“Investing in workers’ welfare during covid proved a strong step towards inclusive economic growth”, said Aruna Sharma, former Secretary to Government of India and a Distinguished Fellow at CUTS International. “However, such enterprises which did not invest in worker welfare could not recover as well.”
Aruna Sharma was speaking at the final meeting of the Grow Jobs project being implemented by CUTS International. This project implemented over 2018-2025 sought answers to the problems of inequality among the lower segments of the society.
In welcoming the participants, CUTS Secretary General, Pradeep S. Mehta, said “While Environment, Social and Governance, ESG is the buzzword now a days, industry tends to ignore ‘S’ (social), which is about worker welfare. It is not corporate social responsibility, said Mehta. The second phase of the project delves deeper into this discourse.
Former Member of the Planning Commission Arun Maira observed when AI agents enter the scene, they will decide to use a knife to either kill a human being or cut salad. “Predictability is embedded in the evolving technology scenario. My worry is that the big tech may dominate the same,” asserted Maira.
Skilling in the areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) will make the youth more employable, said Santosh Mehrotra, a noted labour economist. “Vocational education should be emphasised at an early stage in schools”, said Mehrotra.
“Because of skills mismatch, educated youth are jobless. This is a global phenomenon” said Surjit Bhalla, former Executive Director of India at the IMF. “In the context of inequality, one major source is the lack of taxation on agriculture income”, Bhalla added.
“Rather than data, one should look at trends to arrive at any sound understanding, said Abhishek Kumar, Partner, Indicc Associates, a public policy group. “Wage growth has remained stagnant while inequality has surged”, he said.
Said, Kanta Singh, Deputy Representative, UN Women, New Delhi, “We have to make work spaces more gender responsive than they are now. Whenever, any woman undergoes adverse experience there is a chilling effect on other women”.
While presenting the project completion report, Sanchita Chatterjee, Fellow, CUTS International, said: “Moving ahead, we will work on regional perspectives on gig workers, intersectional issues, and informing policy circles”.
“India’s growth hinges on a thriving labour market. Industries must prioritise their workers’ wellbeing considering them as human capital rather than as cost to business” said Tasmita Sengupta, project officer of Grow Jobs.
Among others, several prominent participants included Poonam Muttreja of Population Foundation; Vrijesh Upadhyay of Dattopant Thengdi Foundation and BMS; Amar Patnaik, former MP, BJD; Sindhushree Khullar, former Secretary of erstwhile Planning Commission.
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