State of Social Protection in India 2025 Report for Social Inclusion - by SETU

BusinessWire India

New Delhi [India], September 22: The Social Protection Coalition (SETU) today launched the State of Social Protection in India, 2025 - A Ground Up Report at the NCUI Auditorium, New Delhi. The Catalysts, which incubated and promoted SETU to drive strategic convergence, scale access to social protection, and strengthen inclusion for India's most vulnerable communities. Developed with contributions from over 100 organisations, India's coalition-led, lifecycle-based report, anchored by SETU and supported by UNICEF, Piramal Foundation, ARAVALI, along with other organisations from civil society, academia, government and other national networks, provides a stock taking and a roadmap for universal, inclusive, and adequate protection across the lifecycle.

The launch event brought together government representatives, civil society leaders, private sector, academia, and multilateral partners to collectively reimagine a future of Assured Protection for every Indian. The key speakers included Ms Siddhi Mankad, Co-Lead, Community Action Collaborative, Ms Priyamvada Tiwari, Director, Policy & Practice, Catalysts and also Anchor at SETU, Mr Subhash Misra, Lead Author, Advisor, Catalysts, Mr Bhoopathy P., Director, Social Protection, Swasti, Mr Shiv Kumar, Co-founder, Catalysts, and Mr Tejinder Singh Sandhu, Advisor, Catalysts.

Post the launch, a high-level panel discussion on "Pathways for Universal Social Protection in India" was moderated by Ms Alka Narang, Co-Chair, Working Group-Implementation & Scale, SETU. The discussion featured cross-sectoral leaders including Mr Bharath Visweswariah, Executive Director, India, British Asian Trust; Mr Devang Pandya, Vice President & Lead, CSR & Sustainability, TATA AIG; Prof. Indrani Gupta, Professor & Head, Health Policy Research Unit, Institute of Economic Growth; Mr Palani Loganathan, Immediate Past President, Rotary Bangalore Midtown; Mr Sagar Shukla, Vice President, Digital Bharat Collaborative, Piramal Foundation; Dr. Sisir Pradan, Senior Industry Expert, Common Grounds & University of Waterloo; Ms Veena Bandyopadhy, Senior Policy Specialist, UNICEF India, and Mr Virjesh Upadhyay, Chairperson, Dattopant Thengdi National Board for Workers Education & Development, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Shiv Kumar, Co-founder at the Catalysts, said, "India now stands at a critical juncture; moving from an era of expansion to one of better targeting (using data and AI), consolidation of schemes, ensuring universal access and a better understanding of impacts and learnings in implementation. In the next decade India hopefully will be moving from protection to building resilience building, using the same principles of inclusion and equity."

The report highlights that the social protection coverage in India has risen from 24% in 2021 to 64% in 2025, reaching over 94 crore citizens, one of the fastest expansion worldwide. It identifies key opportunities to strengthen India's social protection system. With over 3,000 schemes in place, there is scope to build an integrated, interoperable ecosystem that delivers seamless and comprehensive protection. The inclusion of over 30 Crore workers identified on the e-Shram portal presents an unprecedented opportunity to extend contributory social insurance to the country's dynamic informal workforce. At the same time, current pensions of Rs 200-Rs 2000 provide the foundation for a broader movement toward adequacy, where indexed and enhanced benefits can ensure dignity for elderly citizens. Finally, with social protection expenditure already at 8.6% of GDP, India stands at a springboard for expansion, where aligning with the global benchmark of 12.9% would represent a high-return investment in resilience, productivity, and inclusive growth.

The report further recommends a Universal Minimum Assurance enshrined in law, outcome-based tracking through a Social Protection Dashboard, an Innovation Fund, and resilience protocols for future shocks, while highlighting ground-up models such as a Convergence Ecosystem, Intersectional Deep-Dives for vulnerable groups, and Last-Mile Human Infrastructure.

Ms Priyamvada Tiwari, Anchor of SETU, commented, "Assured protection must go beyond being a safety net; it must be comprehensive, adequate, portable, and inclusive, serving as a springboard for every citizen's dignity and resilience."

The event concluded with a call to action for a National Mission for Assured Protection, urging all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, civil society, academia, and citizens, to join forces in building a unified, future-ready social protection architecture.

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