Eleven Years of Jan Suraksha: Building India’s Social Security Net

On a humid summer evening in a small town in eastern India, Madhav returned home exhausted after a day of construction work. His earnings for the day were barely enough to cover groceries and medicines for his ageing parents. His wife supplemented the household income by stitching clothes for neighbours, while their son had recently left school to work at a mechanic’s shop. Life moved from one uncertainty to another. A fever, an accident or the loss of employment could dismantle the family’s fragile financial balance overnight.

One day, tragedy struck. Madhav suffered a severe injury after falling from scaffolding at the construction site. Unable to work for months, he exhausted his savings within weeks. The family borrowed heavily from local moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates. Medical expenses mounted, education was sacrificed, and survival itself became uncertain. For millions of Indians employed in the informal and unorganised sectors, such vulnerabilities were not exceptions but harsh realities. A single crisis often pushed entire families into long-term poverty because there existed no reliable financial safety net.

It was to address such vulnerabilities that the Government of India launched the Jan Suraksha framework in 2015. Conceived as a low-cost social security architecture for vulnerable populations, it comprises three flagship schemes: Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Together, these schemes aim to strengthen financial resilience by providing affordable life insurance, accident coverage, and pension security to citizens outside the formal social protection system.

PMJJBY is a one-year renewable life insurance scheme for individuals aged 18–50 years with bank or post-office accounts. It provides life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death due to any cause at an annual premium of just ₹436, auto-debited from the subscriber’s account. Implemented through LIC and other insurers, the scheme has simplified access to insurance through minimal documentation and banking integration.

As of 2026, PMJJBY has crossed 27.43 crore enrolments, including 12.72 crore women and over 8 crore Jan Dhan beneficiaries. It has also settled claims worth over ₹21,500 crore for more than 10.7 lakh families. For families like Madhav’s, such coverage can prevent the complete financial collapse that often follows the loss of a breadwinner.

Complementing this is PMSBY, an accident insurance scheme for individuals aged 18–70 years. At an annual premium of only ₹20, the scheme provides ₹2 lakh compensation in case of accidental death or total disability and ₹1 lakh for partial disability. Designed particularly for vulnerable workers engaged in construction, transport, agriculture, sanitation, and other hazardous occupations, PMSBY has emerged as one of the world’s largest accident insurance schemes.

By 2026, cumulative enrolments had exceeded 58.09 crore, including 27.45 crore women and over 19 crore Jan Dhan account holders. Claims worth over ₹3,660 crore have already been settled for more than 1.84 lakh affected families. 

While PMJJBY and PMSBY address immediate crises, APY focuses on old-age income security. Administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority under the National Pension System framework, APY targets workers in the unorganised sector lacking formal retirement benefits. Individuals aged 18–40 years contribute periodically until the age of sixty and receive a guaranteed monthly pension ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 thereafter. 

In case of the subscriber’s death, the spouse can continue the scheme or receive the accumulated corpus. Income taxpayers are excluded to ensure that benefits remain targeted towards economically vulnerable groups. By 2026, APY enrolments had crossed 9 crore subscribers, with women accounting for nearly half of total subscribers. The scheme has helped promote savings discipline and pension awareness among informal workers who previously lacked any structured retirement security.

Collectively, the Jan Suraksha schemes have significantly expanded India’s social security net. Leveraging the JAM trinity: Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile, these schemes have integrated millions into formal banking, insurance, and pension systems. Combined enrolments under Jan Suraksha are now nearing 94 crore, reflecting the scale of India’s financial inclusion efforts. Importantly, women, rural populations and first-time account holders have emerged as major beneficiaries.

However, despite such impressive achievements, several structural and operational challenges continue to limit the schemes’ effectiveness. One major concern is the inadequacy of benefits amid rising inflation and healthcare costs. The ₹2 lakh insurance coverage under PMJJBY and PMSBY, though significant in 2015, may no longer provide sufficient long-term support to affected families. Similarly, pension amounts under APY risk losing real value over time.

Policy lapsation due to failed auto-debits is another critical issue. Many low-income subscribers maintain minimal bank balances, leading to accidental discontinuation of coverage without their full awareness. Additionally, awareness gaps remain widespread. Many beneficiaries enrol during campaigns but lack understanding regarding renewals, exclusions, nominee details, and claim procedures.

Claim settlement and accessibility challenges also persist. Families dealing with death or disability often struggle with documentation requirements, bureaucratic delays, digital illiteracy, and weak last-mile banking infrastructure. Migrant and informal workers frequently face difficulties maintaining active accounts or updating records due to occupational mobility.

APY faces distinct challenges as well.

Informal workers with seasonal or irregular incomes often struggle to make consistent contributions. Fixed contribution structures do not always align with the realities of agricultural and gig-economy employment. Questions regarding the long-term sustainability of ultra-low-premium insurance models also deserve attention as enrolments and claim volumes continue to rise.

To strengthen the Jan Suraksha framework, the government must now focus on improving adequacy, awareness, accessibility and institutional robustness.

Most importantly, insurance coverage and pension amounts should be periodically revised and linked to inflation indicators such as the Consumer Price Index to preserve their real economic value.

Financial literacy campaigns must move beyond enrolment drives and focus on educating citizens regarding renewals, nominee updates, and claim procedures. Panchayats, self-help groups, Bank Mitras and civil society organisations can play a larger grassroots role in this effort. Secondly, claim settlement mechanisms should be simplified further through reduced documentation, multilingual digital assistance, and time-bound grievance redressal systems. Integration with platforms such as e-Shram can improve targeting and portability for migrant labourers and informal workers.

Similarly, AI-enabled language platforms such as Bhashini can help overcome linguistic barriers in digital access. Further, the government should consider flexible or harvest-linked contribution mechanisms under APY to accommodate seasonal income patterns. Exploring optional higher insurance slabs and co-contribution models for vulnerable populations can further strengthen coverage and sustainability.

Eleven years after their launch, the Jan Suraksha schemes represent one of India’s most ambitious attempts to institutionalise social security for vulnerable citizens. They have transformed the idea of welfare from temporary relief to long-term financial resilience and brought millions into the ambit of formal protection mechanisms.

Yet the true success of Jan Suraksha will not merely be measured through enrolment numbers, but through its ability to protect citizens during moments of vulnerability. If existing gaps are addressed and the schemes strengthened further, families like Madhav’s will no longer have to fear that a single accident, illness or death could destroy their future. Instead, they will possess the assurance that the state stands beside them in moments of hardship. In that transformation lies the real promise of Jan Suraksha: dignity, security and hope for millions of Indians.