India assumes chairmanship of International Labour Organization after 35 years

On October 23, 2020, the Union Ministry of Labour announced that India has assumed the chairmanship of International Labour Organization after 35 years. The current Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra has been elected as the chairperson of the Governing Body of ILO. He is to preside over the upcoming meeting of the Governing body in November 2020.

Highlights

The Governing Body of the International Labour Organization is the apex executive body. It decides on policies, agenda, programmes and elects the Director-General. Currently, there are 187 members associated with ILO.

India-ILO

India is one of the founding members of ILO. It was created in 1919 under Treaty of Versailles and became a specialized agency in 1946.

Reports created by ILO

The organization creates two major reports. They are as follows

ILO Conventions ratified by India

India has ratified six out of eight ILO conventions. They are as follows

  • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
  • Forced Labour Convention
  • Equal Remuneration Convention
  • Minimum Age Convention
  • Discrimination Convention
  • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention

India has not ratified the following conventions

  • Freedom of Association and Protection of the right to organize Convention
  • Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention

India has not ratified the above two conventions because these conventions impose certain restrictions in government servants. Also, the ratification of these conventions involve granting of certain rights prohibited under statutory rules such as right to openly criticize government, right to strike, right to freely join foreign organizations, etc.

About Apurva Chandra

He is a 1988 batch IAS officer who spent more than seven years in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has worked for over four years as Principal Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra. In 2017, he was appointed as the Directorate General (Acquisition) to strengthen Indian Armed Forces.


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