A two-day national conference on labour began in Bhubaneswar, Odisha today. The conference, organised jointly by the Odisha Labour department and the International Labour Organisation, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. <br/><br/>Presiding over the function, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya urged the state government to spend the fund allocated under the Building and Other Construction Workers judiciously. He said, more needs to be done to ensure social protection to construction workers who are severely exploited because of they lack skills and hail from backward regions.<br/><br/>The first-of-its kind labour meeting is attended by Labour Ministers and Chairpersons of Labour Welfare Boards of 29 states.<br/><br/>Major issues pertaining to social security of organised and un-organised sector labourers, child and bonded labourers, various welfare measures, skill development as well as wage issues are to be discussed in the conference. <br/><br/>The conference will also likely to discuss about how to manage the labour welfare boards and regulate child labour laws in a better and effective ways.