The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which led the Indian workers delegation to the 113th International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), held in Geneva from June 2 to 13, has succeeded in drawing attention to challenges faced by Indians abroad, national organising secretary of BMS B. Surendran said.

A total of 5,164 members from 187 countries, including 46 from India, participated in the conference, Mr. Surendran, in the city on Monday (June 30) as part of his tour of North Andhra, said. He held a meeting with BMS leaders from A.P. — MVS Naidu, Anil Kumar, K. Lova Reddy and Bhavani Shankarudu.

“We had raised the demand for international portability of social security funds of Indian workers, who return to their motherland, after serving abroad for sometime. Currently their funds are not being transferred when they return home. We had also sought bringing out international parameters for skill certification of Indian students, studying abroad, who are being forced to study for some more time on return to India,” Mr Surendran told The Hindu during an interaction.

“Children of workers are going to Russia, China and other countries for higher studies and on their return to India after completing their studies, they are facing difficulties in clearing one more qualifying examination for taking up jobs in the country. We had also appealed to the global leaders to regulate AI and other emerging technologies and confine them to critical areas like space and health sciences. We had succeeded in raising global problems as a country delegation,” he explained.

The Director-General of the ILO appreciated the Indian social security model, and appealed to other member nations to study it and strive to implement the best practices in their respective nations. A total of 31 crore workers in the unorganised sector have already enrolled in the e-shram portal of the Government of India. The details of those who register on the portal would be maintained in the National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) and e-shram cards would be issued to them to enable them avail the benefits of various government schemes.

The social protection coverage has doubled from 24.4% in 2021 to 48.4% in 2024 for workers in the unorganised sector. This is the second highest in the world after the United States of America (USA).