According to the World Bank Report, India’s rural employment guarantee programme MGNREGA has been ranked as the world’s largest public works programme. The scheme provides social security net to almost 15% of India’s population. The world’s five largest social safety net programmes are all in middle-income countries (China, India, South Africa and Ethiopia) and reach over 526 million people.

• India’s Mid-day meal scheme has been classified as biggest school feeding programme benefiting 105 million beneficiaries.
• The World Bank ranked the Janani Suraksha Yojna with 78 million beneficiaries as the top-most social security programme with conditional cash transfers.
• The World Bank has ranked the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme as the second-largest unconditional cash transfer social security progamme in the world.

What is MGNREGA?

• It is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’.
• It aims to ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household.
• Starting from 200 districts on 2 February 2006, the NREGA covered all the districts of India from 1 April 2008.
• In 2014, the government raised the workdays under MNREGA from 100 to 150 for tribals.

What is Janani Suraksha Yojna?

• This scheme aims to decrease the neo-natal and maternal deaths happening in the country by promoting institutional delivery of babies.
• This is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission.
• It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme it integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care.
• The JSY has identified ASHA, an accredited social health activist as a link between the Government and the poor pregnant women to encourage institutional deliveries among the poor women

What is Mid Day Meal Scheme?

• The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritionalstatus of school-age children nationwide.
• Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest such programme in the world.

What is Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme?

• The pension scheme is part of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) that was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in August, 1995.
• All individuals above the age of 59 who live below the poverty line are eligible to apply for IGNOAPS.
• All IGNOAPS beneficiaries aged 60-79 receive a monthly pension of Rs. 200. Those 80 years and above receive a monthly pension amount of Rs. 500.