Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chairs the 12th BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting, in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
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ANI
India’s social protection coverage has expanded to over 100 crore citizens in 2026, up from 25 crore in 2015, said Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The steep rise in the social protection coverage in a decade is largely due to the government bringing into the fold informal and unorganised sector workers, who comprise nearly 90 per cent of the total 50-crore workforce. Previously the government’s focus was mainly targeted at formal workers.
Mandaviya, in a post on X on Wednesday, flagged the landmark validation of the country’s social security coverage by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). “India breaches 1 billion mark in Social Protection Coverage!” Mandaviya wrote on X, thanking ILO Director-General Gilbert F Houngbo “for acknowledging India’s efforts towards expanding social protection coverage”.
In a video message at the BRICS Labour & Employment Minister’s Meeting in Hyderabad on Wednesday, DG Houngbo said, “According to ILO running estimates, India’s social protection system now reaches 1 billion people. This milestone offers lessons that can be shared through South-South cooperation.”
Social protection coverage
Mandaviya, in another post on the social media platform, attributed to the leadership of PM Narendra Modi for steep rise in the social protection coverage, from 19 per cent in 2015 to 68.4 per cent in 2026. This brought more than 100 crore citizens under the umbrella of social protection framework, he wrote.
As per the data shared by the Minister in that tweet, the social protection coverage doubled in between 2019 to 2022 if compared with percentage increase recorded in other years from 2015 to 2026. This was a culmination of government’s rapid policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic — like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat) Healthcare scale-up — followed by a thrust toward digitising the informal workforce, with the launch of the e-Shram portal.
On the contrary, the two year period between 2025 to 2026 witnessed social security coverage hike of just 6.38 per cent which is considered as stablisation of the intiative after the exponential growth. The social security coverage between 2015 to 2019 was at 28.42 per cent while it was 31.76 per cent in 2022 to 2025, as per the calculations on the basis of the Ministry’s statistics.
The two-day 12th BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting ended on Wednesday, with member countries adopting a set of declaration, including to advance social security and formalisation of labour markets.
Member States have agreed to commend the collective efforts in expanding social protection coverage, the Ministry of Labour and Employment stated. Members shall endeavour to progressively expand social protection coverage from existing levels as per nationally determined levels, based on respective circumstances, priorities, and capacities, the Ministry added.
Published on July 16, 2026
