ILO Rights And Social Protection In India

The Decent Work Country Program for India 2023–2027 of the International Labour Organisation offers a broad framework for reinforcing labour rights, decent employment and social protection. Built through consultations with government, workers’ and employers’ organisations, the program brings together ILO support with India’s national priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Framework.

The ILO’s work in India has a significant focus on formalisation, because employment status can affect access to social security, workplace protections and institutional support. The ILO program aims to help a gradual shift to formal employment, while encouraging decent work for women and men in different parts of the economy.

Social Protection Remains A Key Labour Rights Priority

Social protection forms a core part of the ILO’s work in India, aiming to expand coverage and develop systems for workers in different states of economic and employment insecurity. The program also recognises that, over their working lives, workers may move between jobs, sectors and locations and that portability is therefore important.

More effective delivery can be supported by digital registration, improved coordination between central and state systems and better social protection statistics. The ILO’s framework further emphasises the importance of sustainable financing and stronger administration and gender-responsive and disability-inclusive systems to extend social protection to more segments of the workforce.

India Boosts Social Protection Data And Policy Skills

A major recent development was the second Technical Workshop and Stakeholder Engagement on Social Protection Statistics in India in May 2026 in New Delhi, supported by the ILO. Officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, National Informatics Centre, National Statistical Office and several state governments attended the two-day program.

Another key part of the ILO’s work in India is women’s labour rights, in particular through maternity protection and gender-responsive social protection. Labour administration officials, training institutions, researchers and social protection practitioners gathered for a five-day National Training of Trainers program.

The training, supported by the Government of Japan, was designed to build national capacity to address maternity rights and social protection systems that better respond to the needs of women workers and families. This type of institutional capacity can help to improve the consistency of the implementation of labour protections and contribute to a more inclusive employment environment.

Gig And Platform Workers’ Policies

The rise of platform and gig work has raised new questions on social security, employment protection and access to labour rights. India’s 2026 BRICS Presidency has provided another platform for the promotion of labour rights and social protection debates. The ILO provided technical expertise to the BRICS labour and employment process, with key areas of cooperation including social protection, labour market formalisation, women’s participation, skills development and digital transformation.

Meetings in India also highlighted the role of digital technologies to improve the governance of labour markets while protecting workers, including in the gig and platform economy. The focus is on the changing nature of employment, where digitalisation can create new opportunities but also needs adequate safeguards for workers’ rights and social security.

Skills Development Improves Employment Outcomes

Skills and employability are becoming ever more crucial to the future of decent work as technology, industrial structures and labour markets change. The ILO’s engagement with India and BRICS has included collaboration on skills mapping, training systems and employability, linking workforce development to broader goals of productive and sustainable employment.

The ILO’s approach is to put social dialogue in the same basket as labour standards and employment policy. Cooperation between governments, workers’ organisations and employers can help to develop policies that take account of different perspectives and enhance the institutional capacity to implement them. India’s current Decent Work Country Program was developed through a tripartite consultation process.

Strong labour institutions are particularly important for workers in vulnerable situations and conditions, such as informal workers, migrant workers, women workers, home-based workers, domestic workers and gig and platform workers. The ILO program specifically recognises these groups as requiring stronger policy frameworks and institutional support to improve employment outcomes and protect rights.

Care Economy, Women’s Participation Get More Recognition

The care economy has also become a key part of conversations on workers’ rights and inclusive employment. The ILO has documented the contribution of paid and unpaid care work to families, communities and labour markets and has pointed to the links between strengthened care systems, gender equality, resilience and economic development.

India’s interaction with the ILO offers a platform to link the country’s labour policies to international labour standards and broader ideas of decent work. India has a long institutional relationship with international labour policy, being a founding ILO member and a permanent member of the organisation’s Governing Body since 1922.

The current program provides a framework for continuing this engagement through formalisation, social protection, women’s employment, skills, social dialogue and stronger labour institutions. National policy development coupled with international technical cooperation can help to build systems that respond to changing employment patterns, while keeping workers’ rights and social protection at the core of labour policy.

Robust Labour Systems Can Support Inclusive Economic Growth

The ILO’s efforts demonstrate that integrated policies can address labour rights and economic development, rather than separate programs. Formal employment, social protection, maternity rights, skills development and digital labour governance can together beef up workers’ resilience and enhance the quality of employment.