India Expands Social Protection Coverage with ILO Data-Pooling Initiative
India has taken large leaps in broadening its social protection coverage via a robust data-pooling exercise with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The initiative has leveraged encrypted Aadhaar as a one-of-a-kind identifier for 34 key Central schemes like MGNREGA, EPFO, ESIC, APY, and PM-POSHAN to make over 200 crore records and detect one-of-a-kind beneficiaries, the Labour Ministry stated on Tuesday.
This exercise identified that 92 crore individuals, which is 65 per cent of India's population, are covered under at least one social protection benefit (cash and in-kind both), of which 48.8 per cent receive cash benefits. India's social protection coverage, therefore, doubled from 24.4 per cent in 2021 to 48.8 per cent in 2024 according to the ILO's World Social Protection Report (WSPR) 2024-26, which also accounts for existing Central social protection schemes that were not accounted for previously.
According to the Labour Ministry, India’s present social protection coverage assessment by the ILO at 48.8 per cent is still an underestimation, as it does not account for in-kind benefits provided to the citizens of the country, such as food security and housing benefits, and social protection schemes administered by the states. India's actual social protection coverage is likely to be much greater after accounting for this data, the Labour Ministry added.
Here, the Ministry has been pursuing ILO Headquarters on this issue continuously through a focused high-level dialogue. In a bilateral meeting between the Secretary (L&E) and the DG, ILO during the 353rd ILO Governing Body meeting in Geneva last week, it has been informed by the ILO that housing and food security are included in a set of expanded indicators (derived from United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals) that have been adopted by them.
Thus, such schemes and associated data will also be taken into account by the ILO. The Ministry of Labour and Employment is in active cooperation with state governments and the ILO for a national social protection data pooling exercise in order to achieve a comprehensive overview of social protection coverage in India.
State government Labour Departments are performing the nodal function in collating respective state-level data and sending the same to the Central government for further de-duplication, verification and consolidation, according to the official statement. The Ministry of Labour and Employment initiated Phase 1 of India's Social Protection Data Pooling Exercise on March 19, during a hybrid meeting facilitated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
For Phase 1, the Ministry has shortlisted states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Gujarat, to consolidate data at the Central level.
This pooling of data will not only enhance India's international stature as a social protection innovator but also help the Central government, states and UTs to improve welfare expenditures and move towards more sustainable financing for social protection.
It will assist the states in determining special beneficiaries under state-specific social protection programs, as per the official statement. The exercise will also strengthen India's position when negotiating trade and social security deals with other nations, and reflect India's intention to promote decent work in value chains, the statement further stated.
