Social Sector: Health, Education, Poverty, Unemployment, Welfare Schemes

Key Points at a Glance

1. 1

   Ayushman Bharat — PM Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

   • World's largest government-funded health insurance scheme
   • Covers 55 crore individuals (10.74 crore families) from bottom 40% of population
   • Provides health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation
   • Cashless, paperless treatment at empanelled hospitals across India
2. 2

   National Health Mission (NHM)

   • Launched 2005 (NHM 2013 subsumed NRHM + NUHM)
   • Budget 2025-26 allocation: approximately ₹38,183 crore
   • Focus: maternal & child health, reproductive health, non-communicable diseases in rural areas
   • Delivered via Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (Sub-Health Centres renamed)
3. 3

   National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020)

   • India's first new education policy in 34 years
   • Restructures schooling from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4 (Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, Secondary)
   • Raises higher education GER target to 50% by 2035 (currently ~27%)
   • Introduces multiple entry-exit in colleges; recommends mother-tongue instruction in primary grades
4. 4

   Poverty Measurement in India

   • Currently estimated using the Tendulkar Poverty Line (2011-12 data); new methodology under development
   • Tendulkar line: ₹33.3/day (urban), ₹27.2/day (rural) at 2011-12 prices
   • World Bank extreme poverty line: $2.15/day (PPP 2017)
   • India's $2.15 poverty head-count estimated at <5% (2023) — massive reduction from 22% in 2011
5. 5

   Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) — India's Progress

   • NITI Aayog's 2023 National MPI report: India lifted 24.82 crore people out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21
   • MPI poverty declined from 29.17% (2013-14) to 11.28% (2022-23)
   • One of the fastest reductions globally
6. 6

   MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme)

   • India's landmark right-based scheme — guarantees 100 days of unskilled manual work per rural household per year at statutory minimum wage
   • Budget 2025-26 allocation: ₹86,000 crore
   • FY2024-25: provided 2.98 billion person-days of employment
   • 57% of workers are women
7. 7

   PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi)

   • Direct cash transfer of ₹6,000 per year (₹2,000 per installment, 3 times yearly) to all farmer families with cultivable land
   • As of 2025, covering 11 crore+ beneficiaries
   • Total disbursement ₹3.24 lakh crore since 2019 launch
8. 8

   PM Awas Yojana (PMAY)

   • Affordable housing for urban and rural poor
   • PMAY-Urban: ₹2.51 lakh crore central assistance; 1.18 crore houses sanctioned (Urban 2.0 extends to 2024-2029)
   • PMAY-Gramin: Target of 2.95 crore rural houses to be built by 2024; 2.55 crore completed
9. 9

   Unemployment in India

   • Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2023-24): Urban unemployment rate 6.7% (persons aged 15+); rural unemployment 5.8%
   • Youth unemployment (15-29 years) remains high at ~17-18%
   • Labour force participation rate: 55.2% (2023-24)
10. 10

    PM Ujjwala Yojana

    • Free LPG connections to women from BPL households
    • Phase 1 (2016): 5 crore connections target; Phase 2 (2021): Extended to migrant workers, SC/ST
    • Cumulative connections 10.33 crore (2025)
    • Reduces indoor air pollution (kills 600,000 Indians/year)
11. 11

    Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)

    • Free food grain to 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries — 5 kg grains/month
    • From January 2024, merged with regular NFSA free food — all NFSA beneficiaries get free ration (earlier subsidised)
    • Annual food subsidy bill: ₹2.05 lakh crore
12. 12

    Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

    • "Har Ghar Jal" — piped water to every rural household by 2024
    • Status (2025): 15.05 crore (78%) of 19.28 crore rural households have functional tap connections
    • Budget 2025-26 allocation: ₹67,000 crore
    • States with 100% coverage: Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh