I am glad that this 38th Conference is being held on the premises of the V.V. Giri National Institute of Labour which is a national monument.

As you know the scope of labour economics has been changing with changes in the economic structure and the consciousness of the people.  The Great Depression of 1930s brought about a significant change in people's thinking which resulted in enactment of pro-labour legislation and the "New Deal" of President Franklin Roosevelt.  Such changes affected labour world wide.  We in India also witnessed the upsurge of demands for protection of labour during the 1930s and onwards.  In fact Shri V.V. Giri remained in the forefront of labour movement espousing the cause of labour and linking it with the broader aspects of the freedom struggle.

During the post world war II period the phenomenal growth of science and technology and the introduction of automation created a new and challenging situation for the labour movement.  The ascendency of technology has brought about the phenomenon of "jobless growth" as characterised by the Human Development Report.  Liberalisation and the free market economies the world over have made the employment problem for the working class more acute.

Despite liberalisation in the U.K. and America, the social support policies have continued to strengthen labour and make it more efficient.  It is interesting to note that during 1950 and 1988 welfare expenditure increased in the U.S.A.   The London Economist reported in August 1996 that in America "the modest safety net created six decades ago has been allowed to expand, just as health care and pensions have been expanded".  Ironically wealth and poverty have been increasing in that advanced country simultaneously.

In the United Kingdom a major issue that is disturbing the public and the labour force is related to job security.  While Government wants labour-market flexibility employees fear insecurity.  In fact one of the main themes at the Confederation of British Industry was how to tackle job insecurity.  In an opinion poll conducted in the U.K. it has been found that 70% of the workers feel that jobs are becoming less secure.

For us in India with a labour force of 450 million, of which only 10% are in organised sector, the task of providing welfare have become a major issue of our economy.  This is all the more so because 97% of women in India work in the unorganised sector.  Therefore we have to give special attention to the problems of the working people in the unorganized sector.   In the long run we will have to effect increasing transfer of the work force from agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector.   Studies must be commissioned to assess the shifting of occupations from primary to secondary and to the tertiary sectors.  The analysis of changes in work force structure in correspondence with the changing character of our economy will help us to formulate our policies in a meaningful manner.  I am glad that at this Conference this aspect is one of the primary concerns of the participants.

We have a large labour force at our disposal.  This by itself is a great asset.  The World Competitiveness Report (1994) found that our labour force is not competitive on the basis of skills, motivation, flexibility, age structure and health of the people.  However, it described the quality of skilled labour as good.  But the proportion of the skilled labour in the total labour force is too small.  As a result, though the country ranked first among the 10 newly industrialising countries in terms of quality of the skilled labour, with regard to ready availability it ranked seventh out of ten.  The country also ranked the last among the 10 countries in terms of the extent to which ongoing job training meets the requirements of a competitive economy.  Training and retraining of workers to suit rapidly changing technological needs of the economy has become absolutely essential to-day.  In the advanced countries of the world it has been said that the proletariat is being replaced by a "cognitariat", i.e. those who possess various kinds of specialized knowledge.  In developing countries the situation has not gone to that extent.  But more and more knowledge is called for in coping with the changing technological scenario.  Therefore priority should be accorded for the development of the human resources which involves identifying, forecasting and developing the required skills to meet the present and future needs of our country.

Side by side with the development of human resources we have to have a strong social safety net.  This is particularly so in the context of the changing concept of work and rapidly changing character of economy.  I think adequate research has not been done in India on this issue.   In Europe despite liberalisation the social support system has not been reduced.   In fact Europe tends to fight any attempt to abandon the system it has put in place to insure social, political and economic stability.
         
The labour strike in France and the paralysis of the country's railway system in early 1996 amply prove this point.  In Germany and Italy workers have all walked out to protest cuts in sick pay, reductions in health care spending and other welfare reforms.  In India with its vast population and high poverty ratio the human face of economic reforms must be held high.

The National Renewal Fund was a constructive step we took, but the amount available in this Fund has been mostly utilised for voluntary retirement.  The mandatory requirement of retraining and deployment must be fulfilled.  Therefore efforts for training and development of better skills of workers must be stepped up.

In fact what is required in the context of the rapid growth of work force is more employment not less.  To achieve this goal I had once come across an interesting suggestion from a manager of an enterprise.  It was suggested that all organisations having a turnover of about Rs.200 crores must provide 0.1% of their net profit to create a "Industry sponsored Renewal Trust" which will be managed professionally under the Finance Ministry for training displaced employees and finding placements for them.

Another measure which will contribute to social safety and promote interests of labour is the establishment of workers' co-operatives.  Many workers' co-operatives have achieved considerable success in our country.  Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "I consider labour to be a powerful unifying agent.  It is a great equaliser".  We have to harness the capability of this unifying agent for nation building.  Years ago during the freedom struggle Mahatma Gandhi had said, "why should not the mill owners feel happy paying a little more to the workers?  There is only one royal road to remove their discontent : entering their lives and binding them with silken thread of love.  This is not beyond India".

Our Supreme Court has interpreted the right to life in article 21 of the Constitution in a humane manner.  It has ruled that the right to life does not only refer to crude physical existence but the right to live with all the necessities of life such as adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter.  It has observed that "to the tillers of the soil, wage earners, labourers, wood cutters, rickshaw pullers, scavengers and hut dwellers, socio-economic and cultural rights are their means and most relevant to them to realise their basic aspiration of meaningful right to life".  It has ruled that the help and strength of a worker is an integral facet of the right to life and the term health implies more than absence of sickness.  It includes medical care and health facilities.  Labour economists will have to keep in mind these human aspects of labour while focusing attention on the emerging areas of our labour movement.  As Albert Einstein pointed out once, "Concern for man himself must always constitute the chief objective of all technological effort, concern for the big, unsolved problems of how to organise human work and the distribution of commodities in such a manner as to assure that the results of our scientific thinking may be a blessing to mankind, and not a curse."

I am sure that this spirit will guide the deliberations of this Conference.

Thank you.