India and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on future labor and employment issues. Signed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and India's Union Labor Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, the MoU establishes a framework for conducting dialogue and cooperative activities between the United States and India on labor and employment issues.
"Our governments share a firm commitment to workers and their rights. Today marks the launch of a new program to share valuable information that will ensure that workers' rights are respected," Solis said in her remarks on the occasion.
The memorandum will enable the Labor Department, as well as other American officials and experts, to begin dialogue on matters of mutual interest, including skills development, youth employment, mine safety and health, and occupation safety and health issues, with their counterparts in India.
Kharge said the road map laid down in the MoU will facilitate very close cooperation and interaction between the two countries and bring about improvements in the life of workers and their working conditions.
India looks forward to a possible tie-up for training and information exchange in areas of underground and open cast mining, disaster control and emergency management, statistical analysis and development of a data bank, he said.
Kharge said India looks forward to working together with the U.S. for furthering its knowledge in the area of occupational diseases, toxicology and occupational medicine.
In other news, Kharge was presented with 'Pride of India' award by the Indian American community here for his over four decades of public service. The award was presented jointly by the Indian American Friendship Council and India Association of North Texas at a reception hosted in honor of the visiting union minister in Dallas earlier this month.