Armed with ILO data, India will seek inclusion of social security in FTAs

Armed with data from an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report that 64% of Indians are covered by social security benefits, the Modi government will seek to make social security agreements a part of the ongoing negotiations over free trade agreements including the proposed bilateral pact with the United States.

The inclusion of SSAs would mean the social security contributions for Indians who are working abroad on the payroll of Indian firms will be deposited in India for the first three years of such employment. This will make these funds accessible to the employees in India.

At present India has SSA arrangements with 22 nations and this is a part of the FTA signed with the United Kingdom in May as well. Discussions within the government concluded with the view that SSAs can be a part of ongoing and future bilateral trade agreements.

“Inclusion of SSAs in FTA negotiations will be beneficial for Indian employees of Inda-based companies work overseas. I have urged that SSAs be made part of trade deals,” Labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya told the media on Wednesday. It is understood that the subject figured in discussions between Mandaviya and commerce minister Piyush Goyal this week.

Mandaviya welcomed the ILO report and said the finding substantiated the results of studies and assessments of Indian government agencies. He said the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) put the current unemployment at 3.2% which was not at any significant variance with the World Economic Forum (WEF) which reported 2% and 4% reported by the ILO.

“Our data is being accepted by international bodies and this is because we are transparent and the methodology is thorough,” the minister said. He said the Reserve Bank of India data showed that 17.6 crore persons were added to the work force between 2014-24 and this tallies with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) reporting 16.5 crore new members in the same period.

The RBI KLEMS (Capital, Labour, Energy, Materials, Services) framework evaluates employment findings show 2.9 crore additional jobs were created during the tenure of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004-2014, a growth of 6% as compared to 36% under National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said Mandaviya.

FTAILOinformation technologyMansukh MandaviyaOverseas Indian workersWeb Exclusive