The Impact of Digitization on the Social Security Framework in India: An Analysis of Existing Schemes

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The recently conducted National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) has concluded that India’s Total Fertility Rate has declined from 2.2 (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 2.0. One of the most important repercussions of this decline is the corresponding rise in the elderly population of the country. This requires a robust framework of social security for the elderly because of their reduced earning potential. India’s existing social security framework consists of provisions and schemes like EPF, ESI, PMSBY, PMJJBY, Atal Pension Yojana and National Social Assistance Program. However, a substantial portion of the population fails to benefit from these schemes due to infrastructural and implementational bottlenecks. Digitization of these schemes appears to be a way to expand their outreach. However, considering the inadequacy of digital literacy and infrastructure in the country, it remains to be seen whether digitization expands or rather curtails the scope of these programs in addition to risks related to data privacy etc. The objective of the proposed research paper is to examine the extent to which the social security framework of the country is digitized. The paper further seeks to analyse the impact of digitization on various social security schemes in terms of their outreach. In pursuit of this doctrinal research, the researcher would rely upon newspaper articles, research papers, comparative data and other existing literature pertinent to the subject.