"I am extremely happy to welcome you to this meeting and to be with all of you today. We are meeting for the first time in this format since our Government came into office. Earlier, I have had the chance to address labour representatives and others at the Indian Labour Conference last year. However, this meeting has its own importance in view of the opportunity it provides to us to exchange views on a range of issues which concern the working class and to have a deeper understanding of these issues.

Our Government is a caring government. We are committed to the welfare of the working class which is the backbone of our industrial sector. The Common Minimum Programme, on which the policies of the UPA government are based, has specific mention of labour issues. It commits us to the welfare and well-being of all workers. It commits us to fully protect the interests of workers and their families and gives importance to consultations with trade unions. It also commits us to the welfare of the public sector.

Over the last two years, ever since the UPA came into office, we have been working hard to build a society which is based on the principles of equity, welfare and social justice. We have brought several legislations into place which will have a beneficial impact on the working sections of our population, both men and women, in cities and in villages. Among them, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the most significant as it provides income security to the most vulnerable poor sections of society in rural areas. We are also working hard to see how we can provide some degree of social security to workers in the unorganized sector.

As far as public enterprises are concerned, our Government has reversed the previous trend of speedy closure and disinvestment of all PSUs. Rather, the emphasis has been on reviving even loss making PSUs to the extent possible. For this purpose, the Bureau for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) has been established. Through its efforts, recommendations for the revival of 32 PSUs have been received of which 20 have been approved. Revival packages valued at over Rs 5600 crores have been approved. While trying to revive PSUs, we have also tried to see that workers of loss making PSUs do not suffer unduly. We have released Rs 1800 crores of wages and other dues to employees of loss making PSUs.

While we are taking all these steps, I would like to point out that we are at an important point in India's economic history. The growth potential for our economy is huge. At the same time, 2/3rd of our population still derives its income from agriculture which contributes just about 1/5th of the national income now. While we are taking all possible steps for the growth of agriculture, we need to create jobs elsewhere, particularly in manufacturing. And the opportunities are there. We need to sit back and reflect how we can boost our manufacturing sector, create more jobs, have better incomes for our workers and have better working conditions for our workers. We need to reflect on how we can rapidly enlarge the pie we have so that all of us can get a larger share of it.

The purpose of the meeting today is to listen to all of you and get acquainted with issues of concern to you. I would like to have a free and frank expression of views so that we can appreciate each other's concerns and decide on how to move forward on these concerns."