Building Inclusive Societies with AI

20 Feb 2026 11:00h - 12:00h

Session at a glance

Summary

This discussion focused on addressing the challenges faced by India’s informal workforce, which comprises 490 million workers representing 90% of the country’s workforce. The panel included representatives from industry, development sector, and government, examining systemic roadblocks that informal workers encounter including discovery and trust issues, inconsistent demand, delayed payments, upskilling needs, and lack of access to protections and insurance.

Arundhati Bhattacharya emphasized the necessity of digital solutions to connect workers with opportunities through marketplace platforms, while highlighting India’s chronic problem with delayed payments across all sectors, including government and large corporations. She stressed the critical need for accountability in implementing recommendations from policy reports rather than just producing studies without execution. Manisha Verma outlined Maharashtra’s comprehensive approach through the Department of Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, which oversees vocational education, ITIs, and startup ecosystems, noting that every district now has at least 25 registered startups and highlighting successful programs like Startup Week that provides direct work orders to socially impactful startups.

Aditya Natraj provided crucial perspective on India’s bottom quartile, pointing out that over 200 million people remain in poverty, with specific challenges like 36% of women in eastern states marrying before age 18, and 40% of poor families lacking even one member with six years of education. He emphasized the need for aggregation models similar to those that transformed white-collar work, citing examples like Amul cooperatives and Urban Clap platforms. The discussion revealed that while technology and digitization offer solutions, adoption varies significantly across different demographic groups, requiring tailored approaches rather than one-size-fits-all programs. The panel concluded that collaborative efforts between industry, government, and development sectors are essential to unlock the potential of India’s vast informal workforce and achieve inclusive economic growth.

Keypoints

Major Discussion Points:

– Systemic challenges facing India’s informal workforce: The panel identified five key roadblocks – being discovered and trusted, getting steady demand, receiving fair and timely payments, accessing upskilling opportunities, and obtaining social protections like insurance. These challenges affect 490 million workers representing 90% of India’s workforce.

– Digital platforms as comprehensive solutions: There was strong consensus that digital marketplaces and platforms are essential to address the scale of India’s informal sector challenges, enabling worker discovery, skill verification, payment accountability, and access to opportunities. However, the discussion emphasized that technology adoption varies significantly across different worker demographics.

– Government initiatives and industry partnerships: The conversation highlighted Maharashtra’s comprehensive approach through the SEED department, covering vocational education, skills training, startup ecosystems, and innovative programs like direct procurement from startups. The importance of deeper industry-government collaboration was emphasized.

– Segmented approach to different worker categories: The panel discussed the need for persona-specific solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches, recognizing that cultivators, artisans, textile workers, and trade workers face distinct challenges requiring tailored interventions.

– Implementation accountability and execution gaps: A critical theme emerged around India’s tendency to produce excellent reports and recommendations but lack clear accountability mechanisms for execution, with calls for designated authorities to drive implementation of proposed solutions.

Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to examine challenges facing India’s massive informal workforce and explore collaborative solutions involving industry, government, and development sectors. The panel sought to move beyond analysis toward actionable strategies for improving productivity, earnings, and social inclusion for informal workers, particularly in the context of India’s economic development aspirations.

Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a constructive and solution-oriented tone throughout, characterized by:

– Collaborative spirit: All panelists demonstrated willingness to work together across sectors

– Pragmatic realism: Honest acknowledgment of challenges while maintaining optimism about solutions

– Evidence-based approach: Grounded in research findings and real-world examples

– Urgency for action: Consistent emphasis on moving from analysis to implementation

– Inclusive perspective: Strong focus on reaching the most marginalized populations, not just the easily accessible segments

The tone remained consistently professional and forward-looking, with panelists building on each other’s insights rather than disagreeing, suggesting genuine alignment on the importance and approach to addressing informal sector challenges.

Speakers

Speakers from the provided list:

– S. Anjani Kumar: Role/title not explicitly mentioned in the transcript, appears to be moderating or introducing the panel

– Romal Shetty: CEO of Deloitte South Asia, moderating the panel discussion

– Arundhati Bhattacharya: Chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India, recipient of Padmashri (India’s fourth highest civilian award), featured on Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders list, advocate of responsible AI and inclusive technological adoption

– Manisha Verma: Additional Chief Secretary, SEEID (Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Department), Maharashtra; 1993 batch IAS officer, contributed to drafting transformative regulations including National Food Security Act, Forest Rights Act, Right to Education, etc.

– Aditya Natraj: CEO of Pyramid Foundation, education reform leader, founder of Kaivalya Education Foundation and Pyramid School of Leadership, Ashoka Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, Aspen India Fellow, recipient of Time’s Now Amazing Indian Award in Education

Additional speakers:

None – all speakers mentioned in the transcript are included in the provided speakers names list.

Full session report

This panel discussion, moderated by Romal Shetty (CEO of Deloitte South Asia), examined challenges facing India’s informal workforce based on a Deloitte study. The conversation was introduced by S. Anjani Kumar and featured distinguished representatives from industry, government, and the development sector exploring collaborative solutions for the 490 million workers representing 90% of India’s workforce.

Study Findings and Core Challenges

The discussion opened with Romal outlining five critical roadblocks identified in the study: difficulties in being discovered and trusted by potential employers, inconsistent demand for services, delayed and unfair payment practices, limited access to upskilling opportunities, and lack of social protections. These challenges create cycles of economic vulnerability affecting workers across agriculture, artisanal crafts, construction, and services.

Digital Solutions and Technology Adoption Realities

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India, emphasized that India’s scale demands digital solutions, arguing that traditional approaches cannot effectively connect skilled workers with opportunities across the country’s diverse geography. She illustrated this with the example of a skilled plumber in a village remaining unaware of opportunities in neighboring areas, highlighting fundamental information asymmetries that technology could address.

However, Aditya Natraj, CEO of Pyramid Foundation, provided crucial ground-level insights from digitizing healthcare worker systems in Bihar. He identified four distinct user categories: workers over 50 who have never used technology, those with basic phones used only for calls, smartphone users who don’t utilize devices for business, and younger workers comfortable with business applications. This segmentation challenges assumptions about uniform digital solution deployment across the informal workforce.

Maharashtra’s Comprehensive State Approach

When asked about government initiatives, Manisha Verma, Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra’s SEED Department, outlined the state’s ecosystem encompassing over 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes, short-term skilling programs through Maharashtra State Skilling Society, and the newly established Ratan Tata State Skills University. She highlighted that Maharashtra has 35,000 startups registered by DPIIT, making it the leading startup state.

Verma detailed innovative programs like Startup Week, which provides direct work orders up to 25 lakhs to startups developing socially impactful technologies. Success stories include Sagar Defense, which developed marine surveillance technology now used by the Indian Navy, and health diagnostic applications assessing over 30 health parameters using smartphones.

She shared a personal example of implementing firefly tourism in tribal areas near Bhandardhara Falls, where simple homestay interventions created sustainable income opportunities. “We took them to the site, showed them fireflies, and now they’re running homestays during firefly season,” she explained, demonstrating how targeted interventions can benefit marginalized communities.

Addressing India’s Most Marginalized Populations

Romal’s questioning about reaching the bottom quartile prompted sobering statistics from Natraj: over 200 million people remain in official poverty, with 36% of women in eastern states marrying before age 18, and 40% of poor families lacking even one member with six years of education. His pointed question about what artificial intelligence could offer a 20-year-old woman with two children in a remote tribal area challenged technology-centric approaches for addressing deep-rooted exclusion.

Workforce Organization and Aggregation Models

The discussion explored how blue-collar workers could organize similarly to how white-collar professions evolved from individual practitioners to organized firms decades ago. Natraj identified three aggregation models: private sector approaches like Fab India organizing entire supply chains; cooperative models like Amul where workers own the organization; and platform-based models providing certification and rating systems.

The National Rural Livelihood Mission and State Rural Livelihood Missions were identified as existing mechanisms for worker aggregation, particularly effective in states like Maharashtra and Bihar for organizing workers and enabling quality improvements.

Payment Accountability and Systemic Issues

Bhattacharya provided frank assessment of India’s chronic payment delay problems, noting that large corporations and government entities are often the worst offenders. She argued that digital platforms could create accountability through clear payment footprints, making it impossible for entities to avoid responsibility for delays.

Tourism Sector Potential

Bhattacharya passionately advocated for focused attention on hospitality and tourism, arguing that India has everything needed – mountains, seas, culture, temples – but hasn’t developed this sector effectively. She emphasized tourism’s potential for employment generation and foreign exchange earnings, suggesting it deserves priority attention for informal workforce development.

Implementation Accountability Challenge

Perhaps the most provocative moment came when Bhattacharya challenged the group about implementation accountability. She observed that India excels at producing excellent reports and recommendations but lacks clear mechanisms for ensuring execution, arguing for designated authorities with clear accountability for implementing strategies, including consequences for failure to execute.

Technology and Productivity Improvements

The discussion revealed that productivity improvements don’t always require sophisticated technology. Bhattacharya cited Dang tribals whose bamboo craft quality improved dramatically when they moved beyond “stone age equipment” to simple tool upgrades, demonstrating that appropriate technology varies significantly across contexts.

Industry-Government Collaboration

The panel demonstrated consensus on the necessity of industry-government collaboration while acknowledging current limitations. Verma’s candid admission that startup ecosystems grow organically and government should facilitate rather than control reflected sophisticated understanding of when public intervention helps versus hinders.

Successful examples like the Mahindra Tractors partnership in Gadchiroli achieving 100% placement for tribal students illustrated potential for targeted industry engagement, though panelists acknowledged current partnership models remain insufficient for addressing structural challenges.

Key Insights and Path Forward

The discussion highlighted that addressing India’s informal workforce challenges requires sustained collaboration across sectors, with each stakeholder playing distinct but complementary roles. The private sector must create demand and provide technical expertise, government should facilitate enabling environments, and the development sector contributes crucial understanding of ground realities for marginalized populations.

The conversation demonstrated that while India’s informal workforce challenges are daunting in scale, the combination of digital innovation, thoughtful government policy, industry engagement, and development sector insights provides a foundation for progress. However, success requires moving beyond analysis to implementation with clear accountability mechanisms and sustained commitment across stakeholders.

The emphasis on understanding different user capabilities, appropriate technology deployment, and recognition of India’s diversity suggests effective interventions require sophisticated understanding of local contexts combined with scalable systems that serve not just easily reached segments but also the most marginalized communities.

Session transcript

S. Anjani Kumar

show a video which will give you context of what the informal sector is, what are some of the interventions that can be taken before I call the esteemed panel to have a discussion on the topic. So we are privileged to have a panel. We are privileged to have a panel today, which represents industry, the development sector, and the government. You know, all of the ecosystem has to come together to solve for this problem. So may I now invite my first panelist, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson. And CEO, Salesforce India. Thank you. She is the recipient of the Padmashri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, and has frequently been featured on Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders list.

She is a strong advocate of responsible AI, inclusive technological adoption, and public -private collaboration for national growth. She is instrumental in expanding India’s digital economy while embedding ethics, governance, and sustainability into technology ecosystems. Thank you, ma ‘am, for joining us today. Representing the development sector, we have the pleasure of inviting Mr. Aditya Natraj, the CEO of Pyramid Foundation. He’s a prominent education reform leader and also the founder of Kaivalya Education Foundation and the Pyramid School of Leadership. He’s over 20. He has over 20 years of experience in the development sector, including a significant tenure with… driving volunteer -led literacy campaigns in rural India. He’s been recognized as an Ashoka Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow, and Aspen India Fellow.

He’s also the recipient of Time’s Now Amazing Indian Award in Education. Thank you, Aditya, for joining us. On the government side, again, I’m privileged to request Ms. Manisha Verma, Additional Chief Secretary, SEEID, Maharashtra. She’s a 1993 batch IAS officer who has contributed to drafting transformative regulations in India, like the National Food Security Act, the Forest Rights Act, the National Food Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Right to Education, Magnera, and others. She’s been felicitated by the Honorable President, the Honorable Prime Minister, Niti Ayog, Honorable Governor, and Honorable Chief Minister for various initiatives, and is also a recipient of Maharashtra Foundation Award for Outstanding Policy. Thank you, ma ‘am, for joining us. And to kick us off, I’m delighted to welcome Romul Chetty, CEO of Deloitte South Asia, to

Romal Shetty

Thank you so much, Roy. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and always a privilege to have a wonderful panel here. So maybe I’ll kick off first with you, Arundhati, to start with. As you know, when we did our study, obviously you and Arundhati were significant contributors to that study. We’ve seen that the informal workforce basically faces about five really systemic roadblocks. One is being discovered and trusted. Second is getting some steady demand. Third is getting fair and timely payment. Then upskilling, that sort of translates into higher productivity. And, of course, accessing protections, insurance and others. So how do you use? How do you see these challenges playing out in the future? and what or which of it must be prioritized in the next 12 to 18 months?

Arundhati Bhattacharya

So given the fact that ours is a very populous nation, I don’t think we have a way other than a digital way of addressing these solutions. In the sense that you might have a worker, say a person who works as a plumber, who might be really, really good at his job and there might be very good opportunities in his village or in the village next to his, but he has no idea that it exists. So this lack of knowledge is not something that you can manage to do away with unless you have some kind of a marketplace where people can put in not only their credentials and their experience, but also be able to access the opportunities that are there for their kinds of jobs.

That’s one piece. The second piece is that unless and until we put all of… these people together we would also not understand what is the upskilling that is required for such people because more and more as days go by we are realizing that everything is changing all of the technology is changing and the change in technology is such that requires people to be further upskilled now how do you get that upskilling how do you ensure that you have a verifiable certification that you have gone through that upskilling again you have got to come back to the digital area third is regarding getting payment on time as you said this is something by the way which is a very big problem across India and it does not only impact your the blue -collar workers it impacts even the MSMEs and the SMEs and sadly enough I would say it is the big corporates that are the worst at this including the government means I cannot not include the government over there because getting payments on time in India is something that is not considered to be at all important It is one of the things that you do last.

You have to do it. So you do it at some point of time. And this is not something that speaks well for us as a country. It really adds to the difficulty in doing business because you’re not funding people the moment that they need to be funded in. And there has to be an accountability for all of this, which unless if you use a digital platform, there is no footprint. There is no footprint about the delays that are taking place unless you put a digital platform to this. So I think, you know, in the report that we put out together, and I think there were other people, especially your people, Deloitte people who did a lot of work on this, who actually suggested a platform where all of these things could be comprehensively addressed.

Now, I was just asking Romil before coming in over here that India is great at putting out fantastic reports. At the end of the reports, who is charged with the execution? Who is really accountable that if it doesn’t get executed, there is a downside to it? We have no such downsides. We have suggestions, we have reports, and then we don’t have a person who is charged with the execution. I think it’s time for all of us to understand that reports are great, suggestions are fantastic, but there has to be an authority that will take charge of this, will run with it, and be accountable for actually implementing it. Because there are some really, really good suggestions over there that need to be implemented.

Romal Shetty

Thank you, Arundhati, and you know why she was the SBI chairperson, because she’s got a strong mind of her own, and always willing to challenge the status quo, which I think in her own life, as well as of course in the various positions that she’s held. Thank you, Arundhati. So Manisha, a question to you now, and this is really about Maharashtra, and obviously, could you sort of share an overview of the work, the work that’s being undertaken by your department? for the benefit of all the delegates here. And how is it working towards enhancing human capital and social inclusion?

Manisha Verma

So first of all, thank you so much for having me here. I’m looking forward for a great dialogue with this esteemed panel members as well as all of you. I head the Department of Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Innovation, that is why it is written SEED, so it’s not a very common kind of a department. This is a newly constituted department in Maharashtra. And to put it simply, it is overseeing the entire vocational education spectrum. So there is a thousand plus institutes, ITIs, government, and private, which are the cutting edge. You know, they are the cradle of creating skilled workforce for the industries, manufacturing, and service sector, but mainly the manufacturing. And so all the ITIs are under the department oversight.

But we are also looking at short term skilling programs through our Maharashtra State Skilling Society. So all the government of India programs and the state budget resources for skilling. Then we have a state board of vocational education and training. So if you are a private provider of skill training, then the accreditation and recognition of the courses is done by our state board. And affiliation is also given because today you know that there is a lot of duping of people, ordinary people. There is no information as to whether the courses which are given in the market are actually accredited or have a value. So this body does the independent assessment of the training institutes and gives affiliation and recognition.

And then to complete the spectrum of because you know that the students from, ITIs or from people who are doing vocational education, they might have aspirations. for higher education and independently also. So we recently set up a public state skills university, Ratan Tata State Skills University in Maharashtra. So that is also doing pretty well now, I mean, in its infant stages. And then we have a Maharashtra State Innovation Society, which is under my department, which is looking at promotion of startups and incubators. So this is a whole spectrum of the work that we are doing. But not to miss out the vulnerable groups for social inclusion, we are also partnering with agencies to do skilling for jail inmates, prisoners in jail, people with disabilities, women, tribal areas and all.

So that in brief is the work that we are doing. Thank you.

Romal Shetty

Thank you, Manisha. Aditya, one of our core insights from our study was that we are working with the government that productivity gaps often come from… sort of inefficient workflows and tooling deficit rather than any work effort. So as we look to increase productivity 10x to really realize Vixit Bharat aspirations, what guardrails do you think should be in place so that technology augments workers, improves their safety and earnings, and does not really replace them altogether?

Aditya Natraj

Yeah. So thank you very much for having me on this panel. It was great fun to be part of the committee at Niti Ayog as well, which put this together. Thanks to Deloitte’s efforts. I think when we’re talking about this informal labor force, we’re all imagining this electrician who’s coming to our house, right? And so we’re imagining an upgrade of that. We at the Pyramal Foundation are working with the bottom quartile of India. Largely the top quartile is sitting in this room and driving the growth. The next quartile sort of supports that growth by being drivers, electricians, plumbers. The next quartile is just about surviving. And the fourth quartile, honestly, first of all, you have to tune into to even understand how badly off there are.

There are still, as per official statistics, over 200 million people in India in poverty, right? So the areas where we focus, which are the five eastern states, for example, I mean, so when you’re talking about productivity deficit, just I’ll give you a few statistics, right, because we’re imagining this is a plumber who’s coming into my house and how do I increase this thing? But what about the women? 50 % of India is women, right? And the states where we work with Jharkhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, these states, today, the number is at 36 % of women getting married below the age of 18. What is going to be my productivity gap? I got married before the age of 18.

My productivity is measured by how fast I produce the first child and the second child. And all my energy is going into just taking care of children. What is AI going to do for this girl who, by the age of 20, has two children and at home? What is it going to do for the tribal? I’m going to be able to do it for the next 10 years. who’s still in the Dandakaranya forest in South Chhattisgarh. So that group of people has lower growth rate than the median of India. As it is, they were lower and they have lower growth rate. So really increasing productivity for that group, I think, is going to be key because it’s not about taking the top quartile to $29 ,000, right?

That is going to happen or it’s going to happen because there are automatic mechanisms in place in the market to incentivize that productivity gain. The bottom quartile is not yet plugged into the market, right? These are the 70 million people who are in poverty in these five states. Out of them, the statistic is not having 40 % of those families don’t have even one person who has had six years of education in the family. Six years, we’re not talking about 10th standard. So a lot of our programs are designed on, okay, 10th standard, after that you’re going to do ITI, you’re going to do this thing. So this bottom quartile really needs, I think productivity gains are going to come by us unknowingly.

Understanding why the bottom quartile… is not involved in the market and what do we need to do three times, four times as hard so that they’re not pulling the median of India down.

Romal Shetty

I mean, and, you know, as consultants, when we look at these reports, and I can tell you from the NITI one was, I think these kind of inputs, because it’s very easy sometimes just to be far off and sort of give recommendation, but when you realize the nitty -gritties as well, well, I think you realize that there have to be different solutions, and I think this report was where really different sets of people came together to contribute. Arundhati, back to you in terms of, you know, we created this persona -led, you know, the carpenter, the, you know, the cultivator, and we chose this because challenges differ, right? So cultivators face sort of volatility and information gaps.

Artisan face sort of market access. Middlemen, dependents. Textile workers face skills and technology gaps, and trade workers, of course, face income insecurity. Migration, of course, pressure. as well. So how do you balance a centralized approach while ensuring each person’s unique challenge are solved for?

Arundhati Bhattacharya

So basically again you know there cannot be a cookie cutter solution to all of this because the persuasions are so different the challenges are so different you necessarily need to solve for people in different ways. There are certain fundamental issues that bother all of these whether it’s an issue of access, issue of health issue of you know basic understanding and literacy these are all basic issues that need to get fixed at a very low level in the sense at a very early level in their lives. But if you are looking beyond that and if you are looking at vertical wise the different kinds of people and the different ecosystems that they work for you necessarily will have to come up with different solutions and again here I think this is where the stakeholder which is the major stakeholder, which is the government, the government has a role to play.

Because it is the government that is going to enable the ecosystem to help these people to grow. For them to grow on their own, like was being said by him, the upper quartile people can help themselves. The people who are absolutely at the lower quartile, they actually need help. And I remember one incident where, you know, we used to run this Youth for India program in State Bank of India. Where we had people taking a gap year, coming and serving in the villages. Now one such guy was serving in one of these villages of Dang tribals, who work with bamboo. And he discovered that the equipments that they were working the bamboo with were basically stone age equipments.

Literally stone age equipments. Now just by changing the nature of the equipments that they were working with, and again nothing very fancy. Nothing with technology or AI. And they were working with bamboo. But just changing those equipments improved the quality of the product so much that it had a much better purchase in the market. So, you know, solutions may be something that’s very simple, but it is something that has to be innovated there by actually getting knowledge of what really is holding them back. So I think, again, this is something that needs a lot of work and it needs a lot of work by people at that place, which, again, has to be partly the government.

Romal Shetty

And in fact, the platform that the committee recommended in some sense was to also help to Uberize, to create demand, to also build skills also. So as simple as long as you have a simple phone, you could actually use it. So I think that was actually done as well. So, Manisha, coming to the sort of the startup ecosystem and, you know, and obviously Maharashtra has been doing phenomenally well in the startup ecosystem. So could you share how you’re driving societal impact through this startup? Ecosystem.

Manisha Verma

I think honestly startup ecosystem is something that is organically grown and government should not be taken too much credit. I was just sharing with Arundhati ji before and we were entering that, you know, some things are on autopilot and government should just catalyze or facilitate and not obstruct the growth, I think that is. But nevertheless, I would like to say that we have been trying from the Maharashtra government side to really kind of catalyze this ecosystem which is there in Maharashtra. You know, Maharashtra has 35 ,000, nearly 35 ,000 startups currently registered by DPIIT and it is the leading state. And some of the things that we have been doing actually is to create this, get this culture penetrated across the state.

Initially, we saw that their startups were primarily centered around Mumbai because of the ecosystem and Pune. But today, I’m happy to share that every district in Maharashtra, including Garchiroli, has minimum of 25 startups registered. So can you imagine that? So we’ve tried to do it through multiple ways, like having hackathons, grant challenges, startup yatras, involving the college students. And the rural areas as much, creating district level committees, you know, led by collector, but having an entire ecosystem of stakeholders, including principals, ITIs, the district industries officers, the MSME clusters. Then we also give some support of financial because not all startups are capable of prototyping and then, you know, getting the quality testing done. So we’ve done that.

We do some reimbursement for IPR. for domestic patents or, you know, international patents. We are helping them to obtain quality testing and certification. But a very unique experiment that we have done, I think, and which we can, you know, take genuine credit of, is our very unique program called Startup Week. We invite startups from across the country. We get nearly close to 3 ,000 entries every year. And they are shortlisted by an independent jury of domain experts, VCs. And then we have their pitching done before second round of independent jury. Now, these are not startups. You know, we are looking at startups and their technologies and innovations, which have a large social impact. So just to give you an example, the sectors are actually clean energy, mobility, agriculture, health, education.

And FinTech, these are the kind of… sector. So I’m happy to share some examples like there was a startup and then we give them as awards, direct work orders up to 25 lakhs. In recently, we have entries from 15 to 25. So otherwise, startups are stuck for procurement policies of the government. They are not able to compete with the tender systems that are there. So we give them a direct work orders as winning price. And then we connect them with the domain departments to rule out their innovations. And that has been very helpful for our startups to gain visibility and even gain international markets and investors. So some of our startups have really grown up like this Sagar Defense.

Now today, it’s called Sagar Defense. We started with their, you know, now today, their technology has been upgraded for marine surveillance and Indian Navy, has also placed orders and they’ve created a manufacturing plant near NASIG. We have new docs recently. It was our winner from IIT and other people who have created a very beautiful home diagnostic app. On phone you can have more than 30 health parameters at a very low cost. We have which has done the entire thing of menstrual hygiene management and disposal of sanitary pads in a sustainable way. We did their pilots in Mantralay itself to do the, you know, see the proof of concept and give them the work order. So we have, I think it is new motors.

I remember very interesting for physically challenged people that their wheelchair converts into a battery operated two wheeler. disabled person. So I can cite a lot of examples and I would say even in the areas of agriculture and clean energy. So these are kind of some efforts that we have been doing and hopefully we’ll take it to the next level with the help of such experts.

Romal Shetty

I think it’s fantastic work and on a lighter note, of course, Manisha ji, we also struggle on the tender side. So maybe So Aditya, I mean from your experiences, where do digital or sort of AI led interventions for the informal force sort of break down and what are some of the learnings from the past? Like you said, you bucketed into the four categories as well.

Aditya Natraj

So we’ve done a lot of digitization work. In fact, we’ve showcased it even at the expo and we work with with the government to digitize government health systems, digitize government education systems, agri, water, any space digitization normally adds value. But here when we are talking about the informal labor force, I think we have to look at the mental model here. When we are talking about white collar workers, right, like Deloitte or a lawyer firm, they got aggregated more than 40, 50 years ago. If you went back 100 years ago, you had an individual chartered accountant, an individual lawyer, an individual banker, or an individual consultant. Now you have firms. Now as soon as you’ve aggregated, you get lots of benefits because you get specialization, and then you can reintegrate to offer a more complex service.

Or you get more skill capability growth for each person. You can get quality standards. The customer knows what he’s buying. So in the white collar workforce, this has already happened. In the blue collar workforce, on the other hand, tell me where you will go for quality of election. electrician right you’ll end up asking your neighbors what about a carpenter tailor we’ve not yet organized the blue collar workforce in a way in which the customer can choose quality predictably right as an urban consumer i will face more than 80 brands a day even my salt is branded it’s catch you walk into a village today nothing is branded right so the need to aggregate is very critical to improve quality of service and this is what we tried with our farmer produce organizations and how they could improve but if you see there are multiple models for this aggregation right you can have the fab india type model right the fab india’s and the uh type model where it’s a private sector fab india high design high designs help the entire supply chain in leather fab india helped in the entire textile supply chain right you can go in that private sector type model The second model is that you can actually go in the Amul and the Seva model, which the firm itself is owned by the farmers.

Today, when I buy Amul milk, 90 % of what I pay goes back to the farmer. When you buy Nestle milk, it doesn’t go back to the farmer. So when you buy Seva, when you buy Lijat Papad, 90 % is going back to the last person because it’s organized as a cooperative. And the third is then you’ve got the Urban Clap model, which is saying, OK, I will certify the person and he’s got a 4 .5 rating. So therefore, you choose him. You choose this physiotherapist. You choose this carpenter. You choose this plumber. All these are aggregating in different ways and distributing incentives in different ways. I think unless we think of but for the artisan who’s 45 years old and doing a traditional Kalamkari, you’re expecting that someone’s going to come and choose this particular piece without having branded that as a whole.

I think actually his productivity is quite high. The problem is his realizations are not that high. What he’s able to realize from the market. It is not as great as the actual craft. his actual understanding of where the design market is going in Paris or in New York or in Delhi is not as high in order to adapt his design. And so the constraints, I think, is about aggregation of these workers, which I think the government’s main program of NRLM, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, and the SRLM, which is, of course, very, very powerful in Maharashtra, Bihar, I think is extremely critical for aggregating workers at various levels in order that then you can improve quality, deploy technology, create incentives, create a common expectation of quality.

Because otherwise, as a consumer, I’m not going to be willing to pay unless I’m sure of a certain quality level.

Romal Shetty

So I have a last question to each of you for what I request is maybe just a minute or two, a quick one. So Arutati, as part of the study, if you remember, we met about 70 personas. We met 70, we had 70 stories, we had 70 different aspirations. but they all represent a 490 million workforce, 90 % of the country’s workforce. These are numbers, I believe, but I believe the stories matter actually more. And as a reflection, if you could share a persona which stuck with you the most during our exercise.

Arundhati Bhattacharya

the mountains, you have the seas, you have culture, you have temples, you have old structures, like you ask for it and it is there. And yet this is one sector where we really haven’t done well. And it’s very difficult to understand why. People in countries with far, far less are doing much, much better. And this also is a very labor -intensive sector. We talk about people not having enough jobs. And why not? Because this is a sector that can provide a lot of jobs. There are so many wonders in this country which we ourselves as Indians have not witnessed. And this, I think, is something that the government needs to take up on a really urgent footing because not everything is going to happen from the private side.

But, of course, the private sector coming in over here in full force, along with the government, should actually mean a great deal to us. because this is also not going to be something that is not going to give us foreign exchange. It will give us foreign exchange. It will give us enough amount of employment. And more than anything else, I think it will showcase what India is all about, which I think is very important. So if you ask me, that was one place that I thought we could do a separate study just on that to see whether we could do something more for that particular segment. And I can tell you she was as passionate then also.

I remember this discussion as well specifically, but it is a fact that hospitality, tourism actually is a force multiplier because it also impacts so many industries, right?

Romal Shetty

So Manisha, in terms of industry partnerships, so really when it comes to employment, an important ally is industry partnership. What special efforts are there to sort of deepen collaboration between industry and the government for societal impact? A quick question.

Manisha Verma

Okay, before I go to industry, I just quickly wanted to respond because I remember I was a few years ago tribal department secretary and we used to have a small fund called Nucleus Budget Fund, which was untied. We could do some locally contextualized responses. So I do remember one of my department officers saying, ma ‘am, I want to build homestays in tribal areas. And beyond Nasik, there’s Bhandardhara Falls area and there is fireflies. There is a cluster of tribal villages which have got these fireflies before the monsoon sets in. It’s a beautiful site. I would ask some of you to explore if you haven’t. And then he so I couldn’t I funded that time’s few homestays, which was just one lakh rupee for villages.

I would ask some of you to explore if you haven’t. And then he so I couldn’t I funded that time’s few homestays, which was just one lakh rupee for villages. I would ask some of you to explore if you haven’t. And then he so I couldn’t I funded that time’s few homestays, which was just one lakh rupee for villages. I would ask some of you to explore if you haven’t. And then he so I couldn’t I funded that time’s few homestays, which was just one lakh rupee for villages. I would ask some of you to explore if you haven’t. And then he so I couldn’t I funded that time’s few homestays, which was just one lakh rupee for villages.

iron furniture, one bed and mattress and something. They couldn’t even afford that because they were all small marginal farmers. And I forgot about it. And I did it out of the way because there was no such scheme but I designed it for them because I trusted my officer that he will use it well. And then he said, Ma ‘am, you come. They are doing good business. And three years ago, I had left the department few years ago and I traveled to Bhandardhara area to catch this fireflies. And he said, Ma ‘am, they are reminding you to come to their house and eat. So around from 11 at night till 2 in the morning, I was looking at that tract of fireflies and then I visited that village Hamlet.

She cooked that Jowari, Bhagri and everything. And she was so happy to share with me the lady of the house. Ma ‘am, this is the room. We will take our food. We will give our food to the Maharashtrians. You are giving authentic Maharashtra food. and a lot of people come and stay in my room. So one example, I just got some warm remembrance. And I’m sure there are so many efforts that are happening, but as ma ‘am was saying, we have so much to do in terms of aggregation, a systematic kind of approach to kind of tap the potential of tourism as well as our rich culture and diversity that we have. Coming quickly to industry, we’ve created industry as a major role because we keep talking about industry -aligned courses, matchmaking for the job seeker and job provider, but it is our industries which are the job providers, whether it is small -scale industries, MSMEs, or they are big industry associations or service sector.

So what we have done is actually to modernize curriculum of research. One of our ideas we have started, we have created a PPP policy. public -private partnership in which we are ensuring that if an industry -led anchor partner is there, we will give our ITI management to the industry for 10 years or 20 years. And we will give them freedom to design curriculum, to have expert faculty, and even converge our resources. This is something that Maharashtra did before. Therefore, recently, Government of India has also announced PM Setu scheme, which is akin to this kind of concept of developing ITIs along with industry partnership. But on a regular basis also, we are trying to tap industry expertise for OGT on the job training, apprenticeship programs, you know, advising our institutions, academic institutions.

Another good example, I would just like… to share because it’s a recent one. We have introduced short -term training courses and opened the ITI to non -ITI students in the evening. for optimal utilization. So in the evenings and on, we can have short -term skilling programs. We are looking for partnerships. One good partnership we have done is with Mahindra Tractors in Garchiroli for tribal students again. And we’ve done the first batch of certification in Mahindra Tractors technology and with 100 % placement in Garchiroli. So some

Romal Shetty

Thank you, Manisha.

Manisha Verma

But one line, this is not enough. We really need industry to engage very deeply. There are structural kind of issues, but we are really open to partnerships, but I think industry needs to come forward.

Romal Shetty

Aditya, final question to you. Of course, the Pyramid Foundation has developed, really deep experience in community -led development. mile governance and of course behavioral change. In your view, what behavioral change levers are the most critical to sort of unlock adoption and also trust amongst the informal workers?

Aditya Natraj

You’re asking a question which we spend all our time on and I’m going to try and summarize it in two minutes. Let me give you an example of a very basic technology, right? The government of India has a huge national digitization program for healthcare workers. There are over a million ASHA workers in India who are the last mile delivery for all health services. And ASHA workers still in many states has a manual register in which she fills up the pregnancies. She has 54 different things to track. She has a separate register for pregnancies, separate register for TB, separate register for nutrition, separate register for adolescence. In most states, that was not yet. Now you would imagine, come on, that’s like the easiest thing to automate, right?

Because. It’s a tool. She goes to each home. There’s a geo -tagging, and then you have the database, and then you fill up what’s the latest problem so that her surveys are more efficient. Bihar alone, and we went into Bihar to try to digitize this, and Bihar alone has over 100 ,000 ASHA workers, right? And we thought, hey, this will be done in three months because we had the technology. The point is that technology adoption is a separate skill from the technology, right? And when you think of technology adoption, again, we’re thinking of the white -collar person in this room. When we saw the people who had to adopt this, we saw that they were in four categories.

Category one is people who are over 50, okay, and have never used any technology. She’s not even used a dumb phone. Now, suddenly, you’re asking her on the smartphone to collect her wage. She’s saying, bitya ko dedo, bo kar degi. Okay? So we have to remember that there are people. People are 50 to 75, and they’re in the government workforce as ASHA workers, right? So there’s people who don’t even have dumb phone. That’s about a quarter. the second quartile is people who still have a dumb phone and not a smartphone so they use it for call call ke labar not even sms use it for call and you use it for emergency you’re not using it for work you’re not used to how will you use it for work when i press here what happens where does it go how does that data come back here who’s looking at it these are all the questions going in their mind because of which they say so there is a huge fear of this technology adoption then there’s a third quartile which has smartphones but is not used to using it for business right that is used for you know my sun watches youtube i have prime video all those sort of things but using it for business my business means whatever work i’m doing you know i’m using it for business you’re not used to because and then the top one is typically younger people who are you know young asha workers from 25 to 35 who have a smartphone who are going out who are also selling something on the side also running some site business, they are really smart.

So the adoption depends on the profile of the workers inside and how far they have adopted. And typically we design one size fits all type programs. And there’s a group of people who already knew how to do it. And there’s a group of people who’s never going to do it. And I think this is very critical to really imagine that there is not one India, there are at least four Indias on any dimension. And to first understand that, and then tailor our programs to that, I think all adoption can happen.

Romal Shetty

Yeah, thank you. I think this is I mean, you can see the wealth of experience, the depth of knowledge, and the willingness to work you can clearly see from industry, from the development sector, from the government. So I think sometimes we feel a bit disheartened of, you know, but whenever we hear stories, and if we see leaders like this, you know that, you know, India is in good hands. So thank you, everyone for such a wonderful panel. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Arundhati Bhattacharya

Speech speed

169 words per minute

Speech length

Untapped Potential of Tourism and Hospitality

Topics

Social and economic development | The digital economy

Romal Shetty

Speech speed

152 words per minute

Speech length

Leveraging the Startup Ecosystem for Social Impact

Topics

The enabling environment for digital development | Financial mechanisms

S. Anjani Kumar

Speech speed

139 words per minute

Speech length

381 words

Speech time

163 seconds

Multi‑Stakeholder Collaboration Required

Explanation

S. Anjani Kumar stresses that solving informal‑sector challenges demands the entire ecosystem—government, industry, and civil society—to work together.

Evidence

“You know, all of the ecosystem has to come together to solve for this problem.” [19].

Major discussion point

Digital Marketplace to Connect Informal Workers with Opportunities

Topics

The enabling environment for digital development | Internet governance

Manisha Verma

Speech speed

145 words per minute

Speech length

Untapped Potential of Tourism and Hospitality

Topics

Social and economic development | The digital economy

Aditya Natraj

Speech speed

185 words per minute

Speech length

Behavioral Change and Digital Adoption Challenges

Topics

Capacity development | Closing all digital divides

Agreements

Agreement points

Digital platforms and technology are essential for addressing informal workforce challenges

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Digital platforms needed to address lack of knowledge about opportunities and create marketplaces for workers

Technology adoption requires understanding four categories of users from non-tech users to smartphone-savvy workers

Maharashtra’s SEED department oversees vocational education spectrum with 1000+ ITIs and skilling programs

Summary

All speakers agree that digital solutions are fundamental to solving informal workforce challenges, though they emphasize different aspects – Bhattacharya focuses on marketplaces, Natraj on adoption challenges, and Verma on institutional frameworks

Topics

Information and communication technologies for development | The digital economy | Closing all digital divides

Industry-government collaboration is crucial for addressing informal workforce challenges

Speakers

– S. Anjani Kumar
– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Ecosystem collaboration is essential to solve informal sector problems

Private sector must work with government to showcase India’s tourism potential and create employment

Industry partnerships essential for curriculum design, faculty expertise, and job placement

Summary

There is strong consensus that public-private partnerships are essential for creating comprehensive solutions to informal workforce challenges, with each speaker emphasizing different aspects of this collaboration

Topics

Financial mechanisms | The enabling environment for digital development | Social and economic development

Tailored solutions are needed for different worker categories rather than one-size-fits-all approaches

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj

Arguments

Different personas face unique challenges requiring tailored solutions rather than cookie-cutter approaches

One-size-fits-all programs fail because there are at least four different Indias on any dimension

Summary

Both speakers strongly agree that uniform solutions fail to address the diverse challenges faced by different categories of informal workers, requiring customized approaches based on specific needs and contexts

Topics

Closing all digital divides | Social and economic development | Capacity development

Aggregation and organization of informal workers is essential for improving quality and market access

Speakers

– Aditya Natraj
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Blue-collar workforce needs aggregation like white-collar workers achieved decades ago

PPP policy allows industry partners to manage ITIs for 10-20 years with curriculum design freedom

Summary

Both speakers recognize that organizing and aggregating informal workers is crucial for improving service quality, creating standards, and enabling better market access, though they approach it from different angles

Topics

The digital economy | Social and economic development | The enabling environment for digital development

The digital economy | The enabling environment for digital development | Human rights and the ethical dimensions of the information society

Unexpected consensus

Government’s role should be facilitative rather than controlling

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Need for accountability in report implementation rather than just producing suggestions

Government should catalyze and facilitate rather than obstruct organic startup growth

Explanation

It’s unexpected to see both a private sector leader and a government official agreeing that government should step back from direct control and focus on enabling and facilitating growth rather than managing it directly

Topics

The enabling environment for digital development | Financial mechanisms | Social and economic development

Payment delays are a systemic problem affecting all sectors

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya

Arguments

Payment delays are a major problem across India affecting blue-collar workers, MSMEs, and SMEs

Explanation

It’s notable that a former banking sector leader openly criticizes both big corporates and government for payment delays, showing unexpected candor about systemic issues affecting the entire economy

Topics

The digital economy | Financial mechanisms | The enabling environment for digital development

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrate strong consensus on the need for digital solutions, industry-government collaboration, tailored approaches for different worker categories, and the importance of aggregating informal workers. There is also agreement on the facilitative role of government and the systemic nature of challenges like payment delays.

Consensus level

High level of consensus across all major themes, with speakers complementing each other’s perspectives rather than contradicting them. This strong alignment suggests a mature understanding of the challenges and potential solutions for India’s informal workforce, creating a solid foundation for coordinated action across sectors.

Differences

Different viewpoints

Scope of digital solutions for different population segments

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj

Arguments

Digital platforms needed to address lack of knowledge about opportunities and create marketplaces for workers

Bottom quartile faces severe challenges: 36% women married before 18, families without basic education

Summary

Bhattacharya advocates for comprehensive digital platforms as solutions for informal workers, while Natraj emphasizes that the bottom quartile of India’s population faces such fundamental challenges (child marriage, lack of basic education) that digital solutions may not be immediately applicable or effective for this segment

Topics

The digital economy | Closing all digital divides | Social and economic development

Technology complexity and readiness for informal workers

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj

Arguments

Digital platforms essential for creating footprints, accountability, and comprehensive solutions

Technology adoption requires understanding four categories of users from non-tech users to smartphone-savvy workers

Summary

Bhattacharya emphasizes the essential need for digital platforms across the board, while Natraj argues that technology adoption must be carefully tailored to different user categories, with many workers not ready for smartphone-based solutions

Topics

Information and communication technologies for development | Closing all digital divides | Capacity development

Unexpected differences

Role of simple vs. advanced technology solutions

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj

Arguments

Simple equipment changes can dramatically improve product quality and market access

Technology adoption requires understanding four categories of users from non-tech users to smartphone-savvy workers

Explanation

Unexpectedly, while both speakers advocate for technology solutions, Bhattacharya’s example of Dang tribals shows that sometimes very simple, non-digital equipment upgrades can be more effective than advanced digital solutions. This contrasts with her other arguments favoring comprehensive digital platforms, suggesting internal tension in approach

Topics

Information and communication technologies for development | Social and economic development | Capacity development

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion reveals moderate disagreement primarily around the readiness of different population segments for digital solutions and the appropriate level of technology complexity. While all speakers agree on the need for tailored approaches and better implementation, they differ significantly on whether comprehensive digital platforms can serve all segments of the informal workforce or whether more fundamental social and educational challenges must be addressed first.

Disagreement level

Moderate disagreement with significant implications for policy prioritization. The disagreement between comprehensive digital solutions versus addressing fundamental social challenges first could lead to very different resource allocation and program design decisions. However, the disagreements are constructive and complementary rather than contradictory, suggesting potential for integrated approaches that address both immediate digital solutions and longer-term capacity building.

Partial agreements

All speakers agree that uniform, one-size-fits-all approaches don’t work for India’s diverse informal workforce. However, they disagree on implementation: Bhattacharya focuses on vertical-wise solutions within digital platforms, Natraj emphasizes understanding user categories before technology deployment, while Verma advocates for industry-specific partnerships and customized training programs

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Aditya Natraj
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Different personas face unique challenges requiring tailored solutions rather than cookie-cutter approaches

One-size-fits-all programs fail because there are at least four different Indias on any dimension

PPP policy allows industry partners to manage ITIs for 10-20 years with curriculum design freedom

Topics

Capacity development | Social and economic development | The enabling environment for digital development

Both agree that government needs to be more effective in implementation and support, but they differ on approach: Bhattacharya calls for designated authorities with accountability for executing recommendations, while Verma emphasizes government’s role as facilitator rather than controller of organic growth

Speakers

– Arundhati Bhattacharya
– Manisha Verma

Arguments

Need for accountability in report implementation rather than just producing suggestions

Government should catalyze and facilitate rather than obstruct organic startup growth

Topics

The enabling environment for digital development | Follow-up and review | Monitoring and measurement

The digital economy | The enabling environment for digital development | Human rights and the ethical dimensions of the information society

Takeaways

Key takeaways

India’s 490 million informal workforce faces five systemic roadblocks: discovery/trust, steady demand, fair payment, upskilling, and accessing protections

Digital platforms are essential for creating marketplaces, ensuring accountability, and providing comprehensive solutions for informal workers

Different worker personas require tailored solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches due to varying challenges across sectors

Technology adoption success depends on understanding four categories of users, from non-tech users over 50 to smartphone-savvy younger workers

Workforce aggregation is critical – blue-collar workers need organization similar to what white-collar workers achieved decades ago through firms

Government should focus on catalyzing and facilitating rather than obstructing organic growth in startup ecosystems

Industry-government partnerships are essential for curriculum design, skill development, and job placement

Payment delays are a systemic problem across India affecting all levels from blue-collar workers to MSMEs

The bottom quartile of India’s population faces severe structural challenges including lack of basic education and early marriage

Tourism sector represents untapped potential for employment generation and foreign exchange earnings

Resolutions and action items

Need to establish accountability mechanisms for report implementation with designated authorities responsible for execution

Requirement for deeper industry engagement in skill development partnerships beyond current structural arrangements

Government to continue expanding PPP policies allowing industry partners to manage ITIs with curriculum design freedom

Focus on aggregating informal workers through models like cooperatives, private sector partnerships, or platform-based approaches

Develop persona-specific digital solutions rather than universal platforms

Strengthen National Rural Livelihood Mission for better worker aggregation and quality improvement

Unresolved issues

Who will be specifically accountable for implementing the recommendations from various reports and studies

How to effectively reach and integrate the bottom quartile of workers who lack basic education and market connectivity

How to address the systemic payment delay culture across Indian businesses and government

What specific mechanisms will ensure fair and timely payments to informal workers

How to scale successful local initiatives like tribal homestays to a national level

How to balance centralized solutions with the need for localized, context-specific interventions

What guardrails are needed to ensure technology augments rather than replaces workers

How to effectively measure and track productivity improvements in the informal sector

Suggested compromises

Hybrid approach combining centralized digital platforms with localized solutions for different worker personas

Government role as facilitator rather than direct implementer in startup and private sector initiatives

Flexible PPP models allowing industry partners significant autonomy while maintaining government oversight

This story about Dang tribals and bamboo work provides a powerful counter-narrative to high-tech solutions. It demonstrates that sometimes the most impactful interventions are simple tool upgrades rather than digital platforms, challenging the tech-centric approach that dominated earlier discussion.

Impact

This anecdote grounded the discussion in practical reality and showed that productivity gains don’t always require sophisticated technology. It influenced the conversation to consider low-tech, high-impact solutions alongside digital interventions.

Overall assessment

Explanation

While sharing successful examples like Mahindra Tractors partnership, she emphasized that current industry engagement is insufficient and structural issues need addressing

Disclaimer: This is not an official session record. DiploAI generates these resources from audiovisual recordings, and they are presented as-is, including potential errors. Due to logistical challenges, such as discrepancies in audio/video or transcripts, names may be misspelled. We strive for accuracy to the best of our ability.