National
Integrated Pensioners’ Portal
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the Bankers Awareness Workshop in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on 06 March 2023.
Addressing the Workshop, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has decided that all the pension portals like Pension Disbursing Bank portals, ANUBHAV, CPENGRAMS, CGHS etc will be integrated in a single portal.
- To ensure “Ease of Living for the elder citizens”, a single portal has been created as “Integrated Pensioners’ Portal” (ipension.nic.in).
- He also informed that all 18 Pension disbursing banks will be integrated in Integrated Pensioners’ Portal.
» The workshops held were an excellent two-way learning process and will go very far in reducing Pensioners’ Bank related grievances since the Pension dealing Bank officials were made aware of all the measures/OMs taken/issued by DoPPW for Ease of Living of Pensioners.
3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR)
⇒ The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) on 10 March 2023 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
- During the event, the Prime Minister felicitated awardees of the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. The winners of the 2023 Puraskar are Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and the Lunglei Fire Station, Mizoram.
- Prime Minister also inaugurated the exhibition for showcasing the innovative ideas and initiatives, tools and technologies in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction.
The NPDRR was attended by over 1000 distinguished guests including Union Ministers, Ministers of Disaster Management from States, Parliamentarians, Representatives of local bodies, Heads of specialized disaster management agencies, academicians, representatives from private sector organizations, media and civil society organizations.
» The 3rd session of the NPDRR was held on 10-11 March 2023 in New Delhi.
Theme:
The main theme of the 3rd session of this platform was “Building Local Resilience in a Changing Climate”.
- The theme of the 3rd session is aligned with the 10-Point Agenda promulgated by the Prime Minister of India, to build local capacities, especially in the context of a rapidly changing disaster risk scenario in the wake of climate change.
Organized by:
The 3rd NPDRR was jointly organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).
Sessions:
» The NPDRR comprised of four Plenary Sessions, one Ministerial Session, and eight Thematic Sessions.
- An exclusive Ministerial Session, chaired by Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, where Ministers from Centre, State and Union Territories deliberated on further strengthening of disaster risk reduction systems at various levels.
- Over two days, the subject experts, practitioners, academicians and delegates deliberated upon various cross cutting issues on disaster risk reduction based on the SENDAI Framework and the 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction given by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
- The 3rd Session helped mainstream disaster management practices across Ministries and Departments, States and Union Territories, urban and rural local-self-governments, academic institutions, NGOs, CSOs, PSUs, and communities.
» Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Shri PK Mishra addressed the Valedictory programme of the 3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.
» NPDRR is a multi-stakeholder platform constituted by the Government of India to facilitate dialogue, sharing experiences, views, ideas, action-oriented research & explore opportunities in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction. The 1st and 2nd Sessions of NPDRR were held in 2013 and 2017.
International
Labour 20 (L20) Summit 2023
⇒ The Labour 20 (L20) Summit under India’s G20 presidency was held in Patna, Bihar from June 21 to 23, 2023.
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), India’s largest Trade Union have been appointed chair to host the L20.
» The Inception Meeting of L20 was held in Amritsar from March 19 to 21, 2023.
During the meeting a joint statement was issued on two subjects:
- Social Security & International Portability of Social Security Fund
- Women and Future of Work
» The Governor of Bihar Shri Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar inaugurated the thematic event of the engagement group of L20 held at Gyan Bhawan in Patna on 22 June 2023.
173 delegates from 28 countries including India participated in this conference. The summit was attended by trade union leaders as well as experts on labour from 28 countries, along with representatives from Indian trade unions, participated in the deliberations.
» The topics of ‘Universal Social Security’ and ‘Women and Future of Work’ were widely discussed during the L20 Summit.
- The Labour20 (L20) Summit held in Patna resolved for a multilateral mechanism among G20 member states and other associated countries on the portability of social security benefits.
The inception meeting of Labour20 had formed 5 task forces related to burning issues in the world of work namely –
- Universal Social Security
- Women And Future of Work
- International Migration of labour – International Portability of social security funds
- Changing World of Work: New Employment opportunities and Challenges in G20 Countries, and
- Skill Development: Role and responsibilities of stakeholders
Discussion:
» The task force on ‘International Portability of social security funds’ recommended that data on the susceptibilities and needs of migrants should be collected and analysed for the efficiency of social protection systems.
- The summit proposed post extensive deliberations a multilateral agreement among important migrant-receiving and migrant-sending countries guaranteeing totalisation as well as exportability thereby providing benefits to migrant workers.
» The task force report on ‘Changing World of Work: New Employment Opportunities and Challenges in G20 Countries’ proposed a roadmap to address the issues. The task force recommended that the care economy holds significant job potential, and regulations should be in place to protect workers.
- The summit observed that the concept of the Purple Economy explores the potential impact on job creation, emphasizing the significance of both direct and indirect care work. To ensure the well-being of workers, the state needs to encourage actions that support care activities and establish clear regulations for worker protection within the care economy.
- The widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been extensively discussed, highlighting its positive impacts such as increased labour productivity, income growth, and improved living standards.
- The establishment of a tripartite board, consisting of representatives from the government, aggregator companies, and trade unions, can facilitate effective decision-making and policy formulation.
» The summit discussed in detail the task force report on ‘Women And Future Of Work’. The task force proposed to increase the participation of women in the private sector and promote their leadership roles, it is crucial to provide incentives and create a supportive environment. This can be achieved by implementing measures such as offering remote working arrangements and flexible working hours, enabling women to balance their personal and professional responsibilities effectively.
- The summit identified three important issues related to the implementation of social security, they are universalisation, financing and portability.
» It unanimously expressed its commitment towards universalisation of social security during the deliberations on the task force report on ‘Universal Social Security’. Wages and social security are two important constituents of decent work. Implementing social security up to the last person is a critical challenge in the world of work.
- The task force recommended that the global workforce faces significant challenges in accessing social security, with 61% of workers in the informal sector lacking such coverage. To address this issue, it is crucial to envision a third model of social security that combines elements from both contributory and non-contributory systems. Social insurance should become a priority for the G20 countries.
- The terms formality and informality must be redefined and tailored to specific regions and countries.
» The task force report ‘Skill Development: Role and Responsibilities of Stakeholders’ enumerated ways of addressing the skill gap. The summit also took note of the deliberations that have taken place in the employment working group attempts for employment generation. The task force recommended that skill training curricula should incorporate green skills to address the global skill gap.
» The summit also discussed labour-related issues that have emerged in the meetings of Civil20, Women20, Youth20 and Science20. The summit discussed the feasibility of a joint statement between Labour20 and Business20 in the presence of representatives from Business20.
The summit decided to convey the concerns expressed by the participants to the ensuing labour and employment minister’s meeting (LeMM) as well as the G20 leaders’ summit to be held in September.