Technical workshop strengthens social protection statistics in India

Technical workshop strengthens social protection statistics in India

ILO's technical training supports India's efforts to build a stronger and more sustainable social protection statistical system.

25 May 2026

NEW DELHI, India (ILO News)- India is advancing efforts to institutionalize a stronger and more sustainable social protection statistical system to support evidence-based policymaking, strengthen reporting mechanisms and improve protection for people across the country.

Officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), National Informatic Centre (NIC), National Statistical Office (MoSP) and state government representatives from Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Utter Pradesh and Rajasthan participated both in person and online in the two-day 2ndTechnical Workshop and Stakeholder Engagement on Social Protection Statistics in India, held in New Delhi on 25-26 May 2026.

Organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with MoLE, the technical workshop followed an online training programme conducted in April 2026 as part of ongoing joint efforts to strengthen social protection data mapping and data-pulling exercise in India. Workshop content was curated to increase the level of understanding among the policy makers and technical officers for improved monitoring and validating of social protection schemes, aligned with the methodology of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator 1.3.1.

Participants discussed challenges and opportunities in strengthening social protection data compilation and reporting. State representatives also presented their own existing comprehensive schemes and portals for knowledge sharing and peer review.

India has made significant progress in expanding social protection coverage in recent years. According to the SDG 1.3.1 methodology, India currently protects 64.3 per cent of its population through at least one social protection benefit. This progress reflects various efforts to extend social protection both at central and state levels throughout the years, improve data consolidation, methodological alignment, and the inclusion of additional central and state-level schemes.

Technical sessions introduced participants to the ILO's Social Security Inquiry (SSI), a global statistical tool used to compile social protection data and support SDG 1.3.1 reporting. Participants engaged in practical exercises to improve the inventory and reporting of social protection schemes and benefits, including identifying data gaps, strengthening metadata, and improving understanding of internationally consistent reporting methodologies.

Discussions also explored pathways to strengthen India's national social protection statistical system, including stronger integration of central and state-level data and the potential use of digital systems such as eShram and Adhaar, linked data to improve reporting quality and coverage estimation.

"Strengthening social protection statistics is not only a technical exercise, but also a strategic investment in better policymaking. Improved data can help identify who is covered, who remains excluded, and where additional policy attention is needed, while strengthening India's national and international reporting commitments," said Mariko Ouchi, Senior Social Security Specialist, ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia and the Country Office for India.

The workshop concluded with agreement on next steps, including continued technical collaboration to strengthen state-level data pooling, complete the ILO Social Security Inquiry, address remaining data gaps, and prepare for the next SDG 1.3.1 reporting cycle, moving from fragmented, scheme-by-scheme reporting toward a more integrated national picture of social protection coverage.

This workshop was organized with technical support from the ILO under the Japan-supported project, Promoting and Building Social Protection in South Asia (SPSA), which supports countries in South Asia including India to strengthen social protection systems through enhanced policy, data, and institutional capacity.