Key Highlights
- Coverage of social protection in India rose from 24.4% in 2021 to 48.8% in 2024, reaching roughly 920 million citizens.
- Major schemes—Ayushman Bharat, PMGKAY, eShram, and Atal Pension—have expanded health, food, and pension benefits for millions.
- The government launched a Data‑Pooling Initiative in March 2025, aggregating over 200 crore welfare records across 34 central programmes.
- India’s progress contributed a 5% uplift in global social protection figures and is influencing forthcoming ILO metrics.
Detailed Insights
The International Labour Organization’s World Social Protection Report (2024‑26) documents a remarkable acceleration in India’s safety‑net reach. By mid‑2024, 65 % of the population—about 920 million people—benefited from at least one cash or in‑kind scheme, effectively doubling the nation’s coverage in just three years. This surge reflects the combined effect of flagship initiatives:
- Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB‑PMJAY): 39.94 crore health cards issued, granting families up to ₹5 lakh of free medical treatment across 24,810 empanelled hospitals.
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY): 80.67 crore beneficiaries receive subsidised food grains, cushioning vulnerable households against price volatility.
- eShram Portal: 30.68 crore unorganised workers registered, with women comprising 53.68 % of the cohort, unlocking access to insurance and pension options.
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY): 7.25 crore participants enjoy pension guarantees; the scheme’s corpus stands at ₹43,369.98 crore.
Beyond direct programme delivery, the Data‑Pooling Exercise—initiated on 19 March 2025—aims to harmonise records from schemes such as MGNREGA, EPFO, ESIC, and PM‑Poshan. Phase 01 spans ten diverse states, leveraging Aadhaar‑based identifiers to ensure data security and fidelity.
Collaborative dialogues between the Ministry of Labour & Employment and the ILO have secured recognition of India’s housing and food‑security measures within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, promising richer global accounting in future reports.