Getting vulnerable people access to the social safety net

Jan Sahas works to address and strengthen India’s broken social protection system and chart the path toward resilience and dignity for migrants. Jan Sahas does this by implementing last-mile delivery systems, ensuring the most vulnerable migrants have access to existing protections. They also work to improve the system for all migrants by supporting the government in strengthening infrastructure and increasing incentives and accountability for industry actors.

Why Rippleworks Invested:

India is home to 200M migrant workers, the majority of whom are from excluded castes and migrate to work in sectors like construction, agriculture and textiles as a pathway out of poverty. Yet, this pathway does not deliver on its promise, as migrant workers face exploitative working conditions, from low wages to forced labor, coupled with a lack of access to safety nets. While India has an expansive social protection system meant to insulate migrants from economic shocks, a broken delivery system prevents them from accessing the protections to which they are entitled. The result: tens of millions of people are stuck in cycles of poverty and exploitation, while there is over $5 billion in unspent funding for construction worker benefits alone.

To date, Jan Sahas has already facilitated social security benefits for over 2.3M migrant workers in India, unlocking over $100M in government spending and equipping migrants with cash transfers, insurance, rations for their families and other life-changing benefits.