NITI Aayog report “Roadmap on AI for Inclusive Societal Development”
Kartavya Desk Staff
Syllabus: Economy
Source: NITI Aayog
Context: NITI Aayog has released the report “Roadmap on AI for Inclusive Societal Development”, outlining a strategic plan to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for empowering India’s vast informal sector workforce through digital inclusion, skilling, and social security integration.
About NITI Aayog report “Roadmap on AI for Inclusive Societal Development”
Trend and Data on India’s Informal Sector Workforce:
• Massive Workforce Base: Nearly 490 million Indians (≈90% of total workforce) are engaged in informal work — from agriculture to street vending — contributing ~50% to India’s GDP (MoLE, 2024).
• Dominance in Rural Economy: Over 80% of rural workers lack formal contracts or social security, heavily concentrated in sectors like construction, retail, and handicrafts.
• Gendered Informality: Women constitute over 55% of informal labour, particularly in home-based work and agriculture (ILO, 2023).
• Low Productivity and Wages: Average informal sector productivity is one-fourth of the formal sector, leading to persistent income insecurity.
• Rising Urban Informality: Gig and platform workers have expanded India’s “new informal class”, with ~7.5 million platform workers (NITI Aayog, 2022) operating without labour protection.
Current Challenges in the Informal Sector:
• Financial Insecurity: Over 75% of informal workers earn below ₹10,000/month and lack access to affordable credit or insurance (Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2024).
• Limited Market Access: Small producers and artisans depend on middlemen — only 12% directly access digital or organized markets.
• Digital and Skill Divide: Around 70% of informal workers lack basic digital literacy, making them unprepared for AI-enabled economic systems.
• Social Protection Gaps: Only one-third of eligible informal workers are registered under social security schemes like e-Shram or PM-SYM.
• Fragmented Policy and Trust Deficit: Overlapping welfare databases and weak institutional coordination reduce benefits reach and trust among workers.
Technology’s Role in Transforming the Informal Workforce:
• AI for Financial Inclusion: AI-driven credit scoring (e.g., SBI YONO, Setu.ai) can enable micro-loans for workers lacking collateral or formal records.
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): Platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and e-Shram create verifiable worker identities, enabling targeted benefits and wage transparency.
• Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Transparent wage payments and supply-chain traceability (pilot by Tata Steel Foundation in Jharkhand) can reduce exploitation.
• AI-enabled Skilling: Adaptive learning platforms (e.g., Skill India Digital) can deliver vernacular, voice-based micro-learning modules to reskill workers.
• Predictive Analytics for Welfare Delivery: AI can optimize welfare targeting (e.g., PM Kisan Samman Nidhi data integration), ensuring timely assistance and data-driven governance.
Need for Urgent Action:
• Rising Inequality: Informal workers remain most vulnerable to automation and economic shocks, widening post-pandemic income gaps.
• Demographic Dividend Window: With 65% of the population below 35 years, the next decade is crucial to convert demographic strength into productivity gains.
• Global AI Race: Without immediate investment, India risks missing the $957 billion AI-driven GDP boost projected by PwC by 2035.
• Climate and Urban Pressures: Informal workers are at the frontlines of climate vulnerability — from heat-exposed construction to displaced agriculture labour.
• Ethical and Inclusive Tech Use: Without a framework for responsible AI, data misuse could reinforce bias rather than inclusion, deepening social divides.
Key Recommendations of NITI Aayog Report
• Launch “Digital ShramSetu Mission”: A national AI-enabled platform integrating social security, skilling, and livelihood linkages for informal workers.
• Develop Sectoral AI Models: Prioritize high-impact sectors — agriculture, construction, retail, and logistics — for AI-driven productivity enhancement.
• Promote Voice-First and Vernacular Interfaces: To bridge the literacy barrier, AI tools should be accessible in local languages and dialects.
• Public–Private Partnerships (PPP): Encourage collaboration among tech companies, startups, and ministries to scale innovations in informal ecosystems.
• Ethical AI and Data Governance: Create a Responsible AI Charter ensuring transparency, privacy, and inclusivity in AI deployment for social sectors.
• AI Skilling and Micro-Credentials: Institutionalize continuous upskilling through modular AI curricula under Skill India 2.0.
• Impact Evaluation Framework: Mandate data-based evaluation on inclusion, income rise, and service delivery to track the social return on AI investments.
Conclusion:
The NITI Aayog roadmap envisions AI not as a disruptor but as a social equalizer, capable of transforming livelihoods with dignity. By integrating technology, trust, and targeted governance, India can unlock the untapped potential of its 490 million informal workers. To realize Viksit Bharat@2047, AI must evolve from an innovation tool to an instrument of inclusion.