HYDERABAD: Telangana recently represented India at online global training conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) held to analyse condition of workforce across countries. “We were asked to give a presentation on strengthening institutional and legislative frameworks for vulnerable workers in India. Our presentation will be taken as reference material for training purposes,” said labour department additional commissioner E Gangadhar.Gangadhar served as the resource person representing the Turin-based International Training Centre, which is part of ILO. The presentation stated that India has less than 1,000 labour inspectors for a workforce of over 450 million. As per a 2022 CAG audit, over 38,000 crore collected as construction worker welfare cess remained unused in state coffers, highlighting serious institutional bottlenecks in fund utilisation despite, the presentation said. It pointed out that the gap between legislative promises and actual conditions arises from several factors: chronic underinvestment in labour administration and inspection systems, among others.
