Monitoring Unorganised Worker's Access to Social Protection through Administrative Data: Evidence from the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) Scheme

Social protection is a critical component of inclusive development, particularly for workers employed in the unorganised sector who often lack access to formal social security mechanisms. In India, the unorganised workforce constitutes a substantial share of total employment and remains vulnerable to income insecurity, occupational risks, and old-age poverty. To address these challenges, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) scheme in 2019, a voluntary and contributory pension programme designed to provide old-age income security to unorganised workers. The implementation of PM-SYM has generated a large volume of administrative data, offering new opportunities for evidence-based policy analysis and monitoring. This study examines unorganised workers' access to social protection through participation in the PM-SYM scheme using administrative data from 2019 to 2023. Specifically, the study analyses trends in PM-SYM enrolment across states, investigates interstate disparities in scheme participation, and explores the relationship between the size of the unorganised workforce and PM-SYM coverage. The study adopts a quantitative research design and utilizes secondary administrative data obtained from the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Open Government Data Platform, supplemented by labour market statistics from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). Descriptive statistics, growth rate analysis, coverage ratios, coefficient of variation, correlation analysis, and regression techniques are employed to achieve the study objectives. The findings are expected to provide insights into the extent and distribution of social protection coverage among unorganised workers and identify regional disparities in enrolment. By demonstrating the utility of administrative data for monitoring welfare programmes, the study contributes to the growing discourse on evidence-based policymaking and offers policy recommendations for strengthening social security coverage among vulnerable workers in India.

Unorganised Worker, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) Scheme, Social Protection, Administrative Data, Social Security, Evidence-Based Policy, India

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