·PIB·15 marks·250–350 words

Discuss the role of Jan Suraksha Yojanas (PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY) in extending financial security to India's unorganised workforce over the last decade.

In this answer
  1. Extending affordable risk cover at scale
  2. Income security in old age
  3. Cushioning household shocks
  4. Limitations

Launched on 9 May 2015 under the vision "Securing the Unsecured," the three Jan Suraksha Yojanas sought to bring life, accident and old-age cover to a workforce historically outside formal social security [2]. A decade on, they form the retail base of an architecture whose coverage the ILO records as rising from 19% (2015) to 64.3% (2025) [1].

Extending affordable risk cover at scale

  • Low-premium design — PMJJBY at ₹436/year and PMSBY at ₹20/year made insurance viable for casual and daily-wage earners [2].
  • Mass enrolment: PMSBY crossed 51.06 crore and PMJJBY 23.63 crore enrolments by April 2025, aided by PMJDY accounts serving as the auto-debit base [2].

Income security in old age

  • APY guarantees ₹1,000–₹5,000 monthly pension after 60, addressing the absence of employer-linked pensions in the informal sector; subscribers touched 7.66 crore [2].

Cushioning household shocks

  • PMJJBY settled claims worth ₹18,397.92 crore and PMSBY ₹3,121.02 crore, converting premiums into real protection against catastrophic loss of a breadwinner [2].
  • Gender inclusion is notable — women form roughly 47% of PMSBY and APY participants [2].

Limitations

  • Enrolment ≠ realisation: 51 crore PMSBY enrolments against 1.57 lakh settled claims suggests awareness and renewal gaps [2].
  • Benefit levels remain modest relative to income loss, and coverage counts risk double-counting across overlapping schemes; India's 100-crore figure still awaits Phase II verification [1].

Over a decade, the Jan Suraksha trio has shifted informal-sector welfare from charity-based relief to a contributory, rights-adjacent model, contributing to the fastest social-protection expansion globally as certified by the ILO [1]. Deepening it now requires linking e-Shram registration with automatic enrolment, periodic revision of benefit amounts, and last-mile awareness drives — steps that would carry India closer to the universal social protection envisaged under SDG 1.3 and Article 41 of the Constitution.

Sources

  1. 1Efforts of Modi Government Pave Way for Historic Expansion in Social Protection Coverage in India, PIB (June 2025)ILO/ILOSTAT coverage rise from 19% (2015) to 64.3% (2025), ~94 crore beneficiaries, Phase II pending
  2. 2Three Jan Suraksha Schemes complete 10 years of providing social security cover, PIB (May 2025)launch date and vision, premiums, enrolment figures, APY pension range, claims settled, women's share

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