Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42) - India (Ratification: 1964)

Legislative framework and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee takes due note, from the Government’s report, of the adoption of the Social Security Code in 2020, which consolidates into one single instrument all the previously existing legislation relating to social security.

The Committee takes note of the Government’s information on the various training programmes conducted by the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) aimed at raising awareness of occupational diseases, their recognition and prevention. The Committee also notes the statistical data provided by the Government for the period 2017–23, including the number of registered cases of occupational diseases registered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) (17 cases in 2017, 40 in 2018, 134 in 2019, 168 in 2020, 92 in 2021, 132 in 2022 and 127 in 2023)

Noting that the number of registered cases of occupational diseases remains low,the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure the effective recognition and compensation of occupational diseases covered by the Schedule to the Convention, including the number of cases and the amount and type of compensation provided to injured workers or their dependants.

The Committee recalls that the ILO Governing Body at its 346th Session, October–November 2022, on the recommendation of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group, acknowledged the classification of Convention No. 42 as outdated, and placed an item on the agenda of the 121st Session of the International Labour Conference (2033) for the consideration of its abrogation.

The Governing Body requested the Office to undertake follow-up action to actively encourage the ratification of up-to-date instruments, Convention No. 121 and/or Convention No. 102 (Part VI), concerning employment injury benefits. In this context, the Committee encourages the Government to consider ratifying the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.