Closing the implementation gap in India’s agenda for business and the SDGs (Policy CoLab Action Brief)
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) along with our Ally, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) convened an India Policy CoLAB to find policy pathways to address critical bottlenecks in the implementation of responsible business policies in India. Over a series of roundtables, experts from public policy, academia, civil society, and the private sector have helped develop clear and actionable solutions that can help India become a sustainable and inclusive economy aligned with the SDGs.
Two key issues were selected based on their centrality to several sustainable development challenges and the intersecting need for action from both a policy implementation and business perspective. The two issues were – enhancing equality and safeguards for vulnerable workers in the informal sector and strengthening MSME leadership: a key for sustainable value chains. The India Policy CoLAB has come out with the following recommendations:
- Develop a better understanding of the heterogeneity of informal workers to ensure effective policy action that meets their needs.
- Register all workers in a public database to ensure that informality is not a barrier to access services.
- Create better job opportunities for women through partnerships between the public and private sector, and civil society.
- Strengthen dialogue and cooperation between government institutions, business and community/municipality to ensure effective support and engagement for workers.
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Broaden activation of local complaints committees, so that they can be accessed by informal workers too.