Bihar Guv inaugurates Labour Engagement Groups meeting of the G20 in Patna

Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar inaugurated a Labour Engagement Group meeting of G20 here on Thursday.

Altogether 173 delegates from 28 countries are participating in the conference.

Apart from the G20 countries, India, as part of its presidency, has invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Nepal and United Arab Emirates to join the meeting.

Welcoming the delegates, the governor said, “I am proud to see you in Bihar. The dignitaries present here represent around 75 per cent of the total population, which is a moment of pride for Bihar.” He also highlighted the historical significance of the eastern state.

“The history of Bihar goes back to thousands of years. It is a land of knowledge…where students from different nationalities used to seek knowledge in Nalanda University.. This university was a flourishing centre of knowledge. Vaishali too is considered as the mother of democracy”.

Addressing the gathering, Labour-20 (L-20) chairman Hiranmay Pandya said, “I want to assure you that L20 will not only represent the voice of G 20 nations but it will surely also represent the voice of those nations whose representatives are not in the attendance.” Security measures have been tightened and traffic restrictions have been placed around Gyan Bhawan, the main venue of the event.

“After extensive discussion in the inception meeting of L-20 held in Amritsar from March 19- 21, 2023, a joint statement was issued on two subjects - social security and international portability of social security fund and women and future of work,” Pandya said.

Now, these two topics would be discussed extensively before the representatives of the L-20 Summit here, he said on Wednesday.

“Discussions were also held at 11 cities across the country, in which officials from the central government and the state labour departments, trade union leaders, labour and development economists, activists from the national and international labour organisations participated,” he added.