Washington, DC
 
“The road map laid down in the Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate very close cooperation and interaction between our two countries and bring about improvements in the life of workers and their working conditions.” This was emphasized by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Hon’ble Union Minister for Labour & Employment on the occasion of signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US Department of Labour in Washington D.C. on 2nd February, 2012.  The MOU was signed by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and U.S. Labour Secretary Ms.Hilda Solis.
 
   Shri Kharge expressed happiness that Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India and US Department of Labour are signing a MoU for cooperation in the area of Labour in the areas of Skill Development, Youth Employment, Occupational Safety & Health and Mines Safety & Health. He further expressed that we are interested in increasing our know-how in the areas of accreditation systems, self-regulation and auditing through collaboration, exchange & sharing of ideas, etc with USA. 

Hon’ble LEM mentioned that we look forward for a possible tie-up for training and information exchange in areas of underground & open cast mining, disaster control & emergency management, statistical analysis and development of data bank. He further mentioned that Government of India looks forward to work together for furthering its knowledge in the area of occupational diseases, toxicology and occupational medicine. 

 U.S. Labor Secretary Ms.Hilda Solis welcomed the structured bilateral engagement between the Ministry of Labour of India and U.S. Department of Labor.  She appreciated the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Labor under Shir Kharge’s leadership to address various challenges of skill development, youth development, occupational safety and health, etc. 

            Shri Kharge reiterated Hon’ble PM’s vision of skilling 500 million persons by 2022. He stated that collaboration with USA will enrich us in the areas of Training Delivery methods, certification, preparation of instructional material, curriculum development and expanding outreach. He stressed the need for cooperation & collaboration in mutual recognition of qualifications, Vocational Guidance to the unemployed youth and rehabilitation of differently-abled persons.
 
                LEM concluded that the present MoU will be another milestone and testimony to the increasing cooperation between India and USA in various strategic areas and assured that this will help us in further developing an appropriate employment strategy for inclusive growth in India and strong bonds between the people of our two great nations.