Discuss how digital public infrastructure such as ONDC can make livelihoods more inclusive for SC, OBC and sanitation-worker artisans. What challenges remain?

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) such as the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an open network on which any buyer app can show any seller's goods. Through BHARAT TULIP, launched on 5 November 2024 [4], the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment uses it to take SC, OBC, sanitation-worker and PwD artisans [2] beyond local haats. This is a real opening, but results still lag.

How DPI can make artisan livelihoods more inclusive

• Wider market access: over 100 artisan products were onboarded on ONDC and Amazon in FY 2025-26 under the unified Bharat-TULIP brand [3].
• Fewer intermediaries: selling directly lets artisans keep more of the price of home décor, handwoven textiles and leather goods [1].
• Lower entry barriers: an open network avoids lock-in to one platform. ONDC offers seller training, a 14-language handbook and the "ONDC Sahayak" WhatsApp bot [5].
• Support beyond a listing: concessional lending through NSFDC, NBCFDC and NSKFDC, plus cluster development and skilling [3], with help on quality assurance, digital marketing and logistics [1].
• Dignity and heritage: branded crafts earn more, which serves Article 46 and keeps traditional crafts commercially viable [1].

Challenges that remain

• Listings are not sales: official figures count products, not orders, artisans or income [3]. No budget is public, so cost per artisan is unknown.
• Digital and quality gaps: the scheme itself has to provide quality assurance and logistics [1]. First-time sellers cannot yet manage photographs, packaging or returns alone.
• A new middleman: if the corporation lists, prices and ships the goods, artisans stay dependent on it.
• Fragmentation: three corporations run one brand [3]. TRIFED separately sells tribal goods on ONDC, Amazon and Flipkart [6], and PM Vishwakarma overlaps, so some artisans may be counted twice and others missed.
• Caste-occupation link: promoting hereditary crafts such as leatherwork may conflict with the NAMASTE/NSKFDC aim of moving sanitation workers into new trades.

ONDC can help turn artisans into independent sellers rather than aid recipients, but listings alone will not do it. NBCFDC should publish sales and income data each year. A parliamentary impact review is needed, like the Standing Committee's 54th Report on NSFDC micro-credit [7]. MoSJE should also share one catalogue and logistics system with TRIFED and PM Vishwakarma. With these steps, DPI can advance SDG 8 and SDG 10 and the Constitution's promise of economic justice for weaker sections.