The Labour and Employment Ministry, in collaboration with the States and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has begun the social protection data pooling exercise in the country. This exercise aims to obtain a holistic picture of social protection coverage in India. In the first phase, the ministry has identified 10 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha, for data consolidation at the central level.

The Ministry, in a statement, said that over 200 crore records were processed to identify unique beneficiaries by utilising encrypted Aadhaar as a unique identifier across 34 major central schemes, such as MGNREGA, EPFO, ESIC, APY, and PM-POSHAN. It also stated that nearly 65 percent of India’s population is covered by at least one social protection benefit, both cash and in-kind, with 48.8 percent receiving cash benefits. This data pooling exercise also aims to facilitate the central government, states, and union territories in optimising welfare spending and moving closer to sustainable financing of social protection. It also seeks to help the states identify unique beneficiaries under state-specific social protection schemes.