ILO’s assessment of India’s social protection coverage is ‘an underestimation’: Ministry of Labour & Employment

International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) assessment that India’s social protection coverage is 48.8 per cent is “an underestimation” as it does not account for in-kind benefits provided to the citizens, such as food security and housing benefit, says Ministry of Labour and Employment.

It also does not cover social protection schemes administered by the States, the Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

India’s social protection coverage doubled from 24.4 percent in 2021 to 48.8 per cent in 2024 as per ILO’s World Social Protection Report (WSPR) 2024-26, which was based on acknowledging existing Central social protection schemes which hadn’t been considered earlier.

But, the Ministry said that a country-wide social protection data collated by the government has revealed that 65 per cent of 92 crore, which is India’s population, is covered by at least one social protection benefit, be it in cash or in-kind or both.

While 48.8 per cent are receiving cash benefits, the Ministry said.

• Also read: Ministry of Labour & Employment inks MoU with APNA for more jobs

The latest mapping of social protection coverage is led by the Ministry in collaboration with ILO.

By utilising encrypted Aadhaar as a unique identifier across 34 major Central schemes such as MGNREGA, EPFO, ESIC, APY and PM-POSHAN, over 200 crore records were processed in the Phase 1 of the exercise to identify unique beneficiaries, the Ministry said.

The exercise started on March 19, 2025, in a hybrid meeting organised by the Ministry Labour and Employment. It has identified selected States such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat for data consolidation at the central level.

• Also read: BMS, CII & EFI draft out a ‘Responsible Business Conduct’ compliance requirement for industry

The Ministry said it has been consistently following-up with ILO Headquarters on this matter through a focussed high-level dialogue.

During the 353rd ILO Governing Body meeting at Geneva last week with India, ILO Director General Gilbert F. Houngbo shared with Secretary (Labour & Employment) Sumita Dawra that housing and food security are part of a set of extended indicators (based on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) adopted by them, the Ministry stated.

Therefore, such schemes and related data will also be considered by ILO, the Ministry stated.