New Delhi, June 12: Indian industrialist and chairman of Great Eastern Energy Corporation Y. K. Modi will be the representative of South Asia on the UN body as a key voting member for the next three year.

Earlier this position was with Pakistan, after the sudden death of Naval Tata, who held the seat for 30 years in ILO which is based on Geneva.

With Modi, election India will have three votes on the 56-member Governing Body of ILO. Labour union Indian National Trade Union Congress and the government each have a seat on it. The governing body has 14 members from the employers, 14 member from employee and 28 from different governments.

Commenting on his election Modi said, now India should aim at the position of the Director General (DG) of ILO, which would be vacant in the coming years.

He further said the labor issues in the developed countries are different from those in the developing countries. "We should focus on job creation rather than unemployment and we do not want the European models," 

He also said that the work force in India, China and other emerging markets is require to work hard and give the best of productivity. However, the labor legislation in these countries required changing for making them flexible, and there is a fallacy that change in the regulation would encourage hire and fire practices."Industry needs people," he said. If one labor is asked to leave under a voluntary retirement scheme, several additional workers could be hired, Modi said.

Modi is in the opinion that the rigidity in the labor legislation is promoting companies to recruit workforce on casual or contract basis, especially in India. He would try and impress upon the ILO to influence the labor policies in the developing countries with a focus on job creation rather than unemployment.