India’s social security net expands: Mansukh Mandaviya

A comprehensive data-pooling exercise led by the Union Labour Ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) has shown that 65% of the country’s population (92 crore people) is covered by at least one social protection benefit (cash and in-kind both), with 48.8% receiving cash benefits. Announcing the results of the exercise here on Tuesday, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said over 200 crore records were processed to identify unique beneficiaries by utilising encrypted Aadhaar across 34 major Central schemes such as the MGNREGA, Employees Provident Fund and Employees State Insurance.

“India’s social protection coverage, thus, doubled from 24.4% in 2021 to 48.8% in 2024 as per ILO’s World Social Protection Report (WSPR) 2024-26, by acknowledging existing Central social protection schemes which hadn’t been considered earlier,” Mr. Mandaviya told reporters. He, however, added that the ILO’s assessment that India’s present social protection coverage is 48.8% is still an underestimation. “It does not account for, one, the in-kind benefits provided to the citizens of the country, such as food security and housing benefits; and secondly the social protection schemes administered by the States. The actual social protection coverage of India is expected to be much higher after this data is taken into account,” he said.

Mr. Mandaviya added that the Ministry has been consistently following up with ILO Headquarters on this matter through a focussed high-level dialogue. “The Ministry is actively collaborating with State Governments and ILO for a national social protection data pooling exercise to obtain a holistic picture of social protection coverage in India. Labour Departments of State Governments are playing the nodal role in compilation of respective State specific data and sharing the same with the Central Government for further consolidation, verification and de-duplication,” he added.

Mr. Mandaviya also announced that the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has expanded its coverage in Uttar Pradesh by notifying 15 additional districts under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme. “This marks a significant step towards strengthening social security for workers in the state,” he said. A total of 74 out of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh are now fully covered under the ESI Scheme. The newly notified districts namely, Ambedkar Nagar, Auraiya, Bahraich, Gonda, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Kannauj, Maharajganj, Mahoba, Pilibhit, Siddharthnagar, Shamli, Pratapgarh, Kasganj, and Shravasti.