Context:
NITI Aayog has recently released a report titled "AI for Inclusive Societal Development," developed in collaboration with Deloitte. The report outlines a strategy for deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and other frontier technologies to benefit India's 490 million informal workers, who constitute nearly half of the nation's GDP.
Key Highlights of the Report:
· Mission Digital ShramSetu: A national mission proposed to create a roadmap and ecosystem that makes AI accessible, affordable, and impactful for every worker.
· Leveraging Frontier Technologies: The report emphasizes the potential of AI, blockchain, immersive learning, and other frontier technologies to address structural barriers faced by informal workers, such as financial insecurity, limited market access, and lack of skilling.
· Inclusive Growth: The report highlights the need for inclusive growth, warning that delays in AI adoption and digital skilling could result in informal workers' average annual income stagnating around $6,000 by 2047, far below the $14,500 threshold required for India to achieve high-income status.
Objectives of Mission Digital ShramSetu:
· Digital Skilling: Provide adaptive, accessible, and demand-driven learning opportunities for informal workers.
· Promoting Digital Dignity: Position technology as a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion.
· Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Unite government, industry, academia, and civil society to address complex challenges faced by informal workers.
Significance of the Report:
The report underscores the importance of collaboration and collective action to transform the lives of India's informal workers. By harnessing the potential of AI and frontier technologies, India can unlock new opportunities for growth, productivity, and inclusivity.
About India’s informal sector:
India’s informal sector is the backbone of its economy, employing over 90% of the total workforce and contributing nearly 50% of GDP, as per the Economic Survey 2022-23. Despite its critical role, this sector remains largely invisible in policy discussions and economic planning.
India’s Informal Sector:
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), India has one of the world’s largest informal economies, with over 400 million workers engaged in low-paying, precarious jobs without social security or legal protections.
· The NITI Aayog highlights that the informal sector is a significant driver of employment, particularly in rural areas, where 80% of informal workers are concentrated.
Conclusion:
The Roadmap on AI for Inclusive Societal Development by NITI Aayog is a significant shift in thinking about AI policy in India—not merely as a tool for formal sectors or elite innovation, but as a transformative lever for hundreds of millions of informal workers left behind by traditional development trajectories. The proposed Mission Digital ShramSetu encapsulates this vision, aiming to build infrastructure, trust, skills, and enablers so that AI can help raise incomes, improve dignity of work, and play its part in the country’s goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.
