Mallikarjun Kharge joined politics as a student leader in the Government Arts College in Gulbarga. A lawyer, he has the record of winning continuously from Gurmitkal assembly constituency in Gulbarga district from 1972 to 2004. The 67-year-old Kharge has held several posts in the party and in state governments.

Issues

The key issues in this sector pertain to the financial crisis and its impact on employment, labour issues related to migrant workers, skill development and employability and issues.

What he plans to do

Kharge outlined the priority areas of the Ministry and said that expansion of skill development initiative would be taken up in a big way and similarly, it would be ensured that the coverage under Rashtriya Swasthaya Bima Yojna (RSBY) Scheme is expanded to cover all BPL workers within three years.

He said that the RSBY which already covers the building workers, would also be expanded to cover others above poverty line (APL) workers in the unorganized sector.

The Minister said that the other priority areas include the implementation of social security schemes under Building & Other Construction Workers Act, the promulgation of the National Employment Policy and amendment of EPF and ESI Acts to cover all establishments with 10 or more employees instead of existing threshold of 20 employees.