India to promote interest of developing nations at ongoing ILO session

India on Wednesday said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards should not be used as non-tariff barriers and it is opposed to the "protectionist agenda" of developed countries. "Government of India strongly advocates the primacy of ILO standards in the area of labour. We oppose mushrooming of private/voluntary/Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) standards as they pursue the protectionist agenda of developed countries," a statement of Ministry of Labour and Employment said Wednesday here. The statement said India will push forward the interest of developing countries at the ongoing ILO's 102th Session in Geneva and the Indian Labour and Employment Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, will be strongly putting forth the interests of developing countries in their his policy speeches. "Poverty alleviation and attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) still remain a priority for developing and low income countries. In the Sustainable Development Committee India will strongly advocate its stand that all three pillars of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental should be given equal importance. Green economy and green jobs are not an end in itself but one of the means of attaining the over-arching goal of sustainable development. "India along with other developing countries follows the principle of CBDR (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities) in the area of environmental issues i.e. the developed countries should share a bigger responsibility as compared to the developing countries," it said. This year the International Labour Conference is discussing, report of Director General ILO, programme and budget of ILO for the next biennium, report of Committee of Application of Standards, employment and social protection in the new demographic context, sustainable Development and green Jobs. "As per ILO Convention no. 81 Labour Inspection remains the primary responsibility of the government. Bringing in extraneous agencies in the area of labour inspection will undermine the role of government. All countries should work within the framework of national labour laws and government labour inspection machinery," it said. On the sidelines of ILC, Mallikarjun Kharge will also be addressing the Asia-Pacific Countries on the issue of skill and employability. He will also be attending the meeting of G20 Labour Ministers being organized by Director General, ILO. G20, under the presidentship of Russia is pursuing the primary agenda of increasing employment and growth, the statement added.