There might be a need for reforming Indian labour legislation, so by no
means are we suggesting that laws should not be reformed. Our point
is when you are taking up these important reforms, you do that
following a number of key principles. One of which is to engage in
social dialogue and consultation so that all the perspectives can be put
on the table and debated.
The second key principle is to uphold your international obligations,
so the legal reforms should be also respectful of conventions rati ed by
India. These are the two critical principles that need to be upheld
when engaging in labour reforms and we know that India has for many
years now had the labour reforms on its agenda. And like anywhere
else in the world, this is a di cult process and precisely because you
need to be arbitrating between contradictory interests in this case and
maintain some equal bargaining power as well. All the more, it is
important to engage with everyone so that you can get an outcome
that is then going to be implemented and respected by both by
employers and workers themselves.
NMS: You have repeatedly emphasised the need for social dialogue
and consultation with all stakeholders including the workers.
However, as the central trade unions have pointed out, that is not
happening in India. In such a situation, what is the procedure
followed by the ILO to address this?
CV: There are di erent ways in which the ILO o ce engages with the
member states. We have permanent dialogue and exchange. Clearly
the preferred way of engagement is through dialogue and cooperation.
Then, if these types of issues and concerns are raised in the context of
the ILO supervisory system, we have a number of bodies that do
regular review of how the member states comply with their
international obligations. If an issue is raised in the context of their
regular review, then this issue will be examined by these supervisory
bodies. For instance, the convention 81 on labour inspection will be
reviewed this year by a committee of experts. The convention 144 on