By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 09, 2024: UNION Minister of Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting focusing on the key issues related to employment data and overseas emigration trends in New Delhi on 07.10.2024. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje was also present on the occasion.

The deliberations with  Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and NITI Aayog aimed to strengthen coordination and data assimilation for both overseas employment and domestic job creation, as well as to enhance the monitoring of recruiting agencies and skill requirements for employment abroad.

Dr. Mandaviya highlighted the need for a mechanism to have complete data of citizens going abroad for jobs / studies to ECR / Non - ECR countries. He also suggested that there should be an integration of N ational Career Service (NCS) portal, M Y Bharat Platform, MADAD, eMigrate,  eShram portals, state portals etc for a comprehensive view of supply and demand side of employment.

He further emphasized that industry associations can play a pivotal role in collating the employment data. The Minister underscored the role of NITI Aayog as an umbrella organization that can facilitate the compilation of employment related data from various Ministries.

It was emphasized that contracts with foreign employers should be standardized and the Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangements (MMPA) & Social Security Agreements (SSA) should be reviewed to get feedback on efficacy of its provisions.

NITI Aayog shared insights from various studies on employment portals in the country, emphasizing the need for a unified platform to integrate employment data across government schemes and sectors.

The meeting underscored Government's commitment to bridging current data gaps, especially in the informal sector, and to developing a comprehensive, multi-sector employment data portal to drive policy and job creation initiatives.

The meeting concluded with a strong commitment to strengthening employment data coordination, expanding overseas job opportunities, and security of Indian workers abroad. The proposed Unified Employment Data Portal will serve as a transformative tool in centralizing employment data, while the eMigrate and NCS integration will broaden access to international job markets.