How 42 Million Farmers, 32 Million Women & 1,16,000 Youth Found Security in 2025

Dr Angela Lusigi is the Resident Representative of UNDP India. She has over 25 years of expertise in socio-economic analysis, sustainable development, and resource mobilisation. She is passionate about youth empowerment, gender equality and leadership development. Previously, she held senior positions globally with extensive experience in policy advisory roles focused on sustainable economic transformation and social inclusion. Ms Lusigi holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Reading in the UK.

Advertisment

Add The Better India As A Trusted Source

In 2025, everyday systems across India reached more people, more reliably.

A pregnant woman did not miss her vaccination because her digital health record followed her, even when she moved cities. A young mother in a low-income neighbourhood could take up paid work because a crèche opened nearby. A farmer facing erratic weather received insurance support in time to plant again, instead of starting over with debt.

These moments rarely make the news. But they shape daily life for millions.

Across India, public systems became better at doing three things that matter most to people: finding those who had been missed, responding faster when help was needed, and staying with families through change. Whether in health, work, climate resilience, or justice, progress was measured less by new announcements and more by fewer gaps, fewer delays, and fewer people left behind.

Working alongside the Government of India, state governments, the private sector, civil society and communities, the United Nations Development Programme supported several of these shifts, focused on strengthening systems for the people of India.

The ten changes that follow are not dramatic breakthroughs. They are everyday gains. Together, they show how India in 2025 made daily life more reliable, more dignified, and more hopeful for those who need it most.

1. Digital public health systems reached more mothers and children 

India strengthened its Universal Immunisation Programme through U-WIN and the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN). In 2025, U-WIN tracked 32 million pregnant women and 97 million children, while eVIN monitored vaccine availability and temperature across 30,000 cold-chain points, covering more than 650 million doses.

The effects were practical. Stock-outs declined. Missed appointments were easier to identify. Families who migrated stayed visible to the system. Health workers could find and follow up with zero-dose children instead of losing them to paperwork and distance.

More than one million female frontline workers were trained to use these tools. Digital records reduced paperwork and made follow-ups predictable, helping ensure continuity of care.

2. Childcare entered the conversation about women’s work

Women’s workforce participation rose in 2025, in part due to a shift in how childcare was understood. Under Mission Shakti’s PALNA Scheme, evidence from pilots and financing studies began shaping more affordable and scalable childcare models, particularly in urban, low-income areas.

Community-based crèches and co-pay models made it possible for women to take up paid work without relying on informal or unsafe arrangements. At the same time, these centres created jobs in the care economy itself. Care started to be recognised not just as unpaid labour within households, but as essential infrastructure for economic participation.

3. Informal workers gained access to social protection 

India continued expanding social protection to workers who have long remained outside formal systems. Targeted outreach through the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme ensured that 34,900 waste pickers, 73 percent of them women, were linked to identity documents, health insurance, and welfare schemes. 

Legal awareness programmes and first-mile justice support helped workers understand and claim their entitlements. These connections reduced vulnerability and provided a safety net for workers who keep cities functioning every day.

4. Skills training translated into real jobs for young people

India is skilling its young people for the jobs of the future. Through the Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society, skills training was closely aligned with local labour market demand. 

In 2025, 116,000 youth were trained, 77 percent of them women and 33 percent from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. 55 percent moved into formal employment, many in sectors such as healthcare, apparel, and IT-enabled services. For young people, this meant training that led somewhere, not just certificates.

5. Crop insurance reached farmers when it mattered

Climate risks continued to test rural livelihoods, but insurance systems worked better in 2025.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS), insurance coverage expanded to 42 million farmers, including 20 percent women farmers. Digital tools improved crop loss assessments, reduced errors, and enabled faster claim processing. When climate shocks occurred, farmers were able to recover without falling into debt.

6. Climate action scaled through policy, finance, and people

In 2025, India strengthened the foundations for long-term climate action through planning, finance, and data. Families had steadier incomes, communities were better prepared for climate shocks, and environmental action became a source of security rather than uncertainty.

The country developed its first National Adaptation Plan and a gender-responsive Biodiversity Finance Plan, aligning climate, nature, and development goals. States, including West Bengal and Karnataka, designed Climate Finance Facilities to mobilise investments for resilience. At the national level, India achieved a 67.5% reduction in Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) production and consumption, fully meeting Montreal Protocol targets.

At the subnational level, Himachal Pradesh produced India’s first climate-integrated Human Development Report, introducing a climate-adjusted Human Development Index (HDI). 

Community-led projects restored more than 26,000 hectares of degraded land while supporting climate-resilient livelihoods for over 63,000 people.

7. Women-led climate solutions at the local level

Women emerged as key leaders in community-level climate action.

2,100 women farmers adopted climate-resilient agricultural practices, improving yields and incomes. Over 300Women Climate Champions mobilised nearly 4,000 self-help groups to promote sustainable practices, from soil conservation to clean energy adoption. Climate leadership was not abstract. It was rooted in everyday decisions made by women in their own communities.

8. Local plans worked better because they reflected real needs on the ground

Across 33 states and union territories, development planning drew more consistently on district-level data linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Dashboards helped governments identify where gaps persisted, whether in healthcare access, livelihoods, or climate vulnerability.

As state budgets were aligned more closely with outcomes, programmes became more targeted. For people, this showed up in small but meaningful ways: services reaching the right places, resources flowing where needs were greatest, and local priorities shaping decisions.

9. Justice services became more accessible through technology and outreach

Efforts to make justice systems more people-friendly continued in 2025, with a focus on communities that face the greatest barriers to legal support.

Assessments across states helped identify everyday obstacles such as distance, lack of information, and fear of formal processes. Based on this, 1,600 people, including people living with HIV, gender-diverse communities, and persons with disabilities, received legal awareness and first-mile justice support. Over 500 para-legal volunteers were also trained, strengthening access to legal aid closer to where people live.

For many, this meant knowing their rights, understanding where to seek help, and feeling more confident approaching the justice system when it mattered.

10. India’s public systems informed solutions beyond its borders

India’s development experience increasingly shaped solutions beyond its borders. Through South–South Cooperation, India’s crop insurance reforms were shared with seven countries, positioning them as a practical model for protecting farmers against climate and income shocks.

At the same time, digital public systems such as U-WIN and eVIN were piloted in Zambia and Lao PDR, supporting immunisation tracking and last-mile health delivery. Together, these exchanges showed how systems built for scale in India can be adapted responsibly to different national contexts, turning lived experience into global public value. 

Taken on their own, these changes may seem incremental. A digital record here. A childcare centre there. A faster insurance claim. A trained paralegal closer to home.

Together, they point to something larger.

In 2025, India continued the hard work of making progress dependable. Systems became more likely to follow people instead of losing them. Support arrived earlier, when it could still make a difference. And everyday life, especially for those long pushed to the margins, became easier to navigate.

This is how lasting change takes hold. Not all at once, and not always visibly, but through institutions that learn, adapt, and keep showing up. For millions of Indians, that reliability mattered. 

And it is what made 2025 a year when progress was felt, not just promised. The United Nations Development Programme is proud to support the people and the Government of India in that work.