Globally, climate change could lead to the internal migration of 216 million people by 2050, with early hotspots emerging as soon as 2030
By 2050, 45 million people in India are projected to migrate in response to climate change
21 million workers could potentially face social and economic challenges as India transitions away from traditional fuel sources
Seasonal migrant workers in the construction sector lose an estimated INR 64 billion per year due to uncertain employment terms
OVERVIEW
Over 200 million individuals from India’s marginalised communities depend on internal migration as a means of their livelihood. Given the growing impact of climate change and climate action on rural livelihoods, migration will continue to increase as a livelihood strategy. However, migrating out of poverty is not straightforward: the available employment opportunities are predominantly within the informal economy, typically in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and services. Recruitment often occurs through informal channels mediated by several layers of sub-contractors, leading to underpayment, overwork, and poor working conditions. Most migrant workers lack access to basic amenities such as adequate food and nutrition, water and sanitation, housing, education, and quality healthcare. High mobility makes it challenging for governments and markets to cater to migrant workers, making them a vastly underserved segment.
To address these critical issues, Social Alpha has launched Techtonic – Innovations for Future Ready Migrant Workforce in partnership with the Migrants Resilience Collaborative. The objective of this program is to create a stack of innovative and viable solutions that collectively catalyse upward mobility for migrant workers, contributing to a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable future.
Focus Areas
45 million people in India are expected to migrate by 2050 in response to climate change induced adversities on their lives and livelihood, particularly in agriculture and allied sectors. On the other hand, over the next couple of decades, as India transitions away from traditional fuel sources, a significant workforce shift is imminent. It is estimated that approximately 21 million individuals will need to be provided decent employment to prevent social and economic challenges. Therefore, creating alternative local economic opportunities in rural areas is essential. Potential solutions include (but are not limited to)
- Skilling/re-skilling those engaged in fossil fuel and allied sectors.
- Local employment generation through value chain development, better market linkages, etc.
Social protection, which includes social security schemes and worker protection measures, is the safety net which prevents workers from falling further into poverty. It sets the foundation for transitioning migrants and informal workers to safe, dignified, just and resilient lives through a broader set of products and services. Yet, a vast majority are unable to access social protection due to broken delivery systems. This requires technology-enabled product and business model innovations in how social protection is delivered. Potential solutions include (but are not limited to):
- Making last-mile outreach, awareness generation, facilitation and complaint resolution commercially viable for existing at-scale operators such as common service centres, kirana stores, self-help groups, etc.
- Eliminating front-end and back-end process inefficiencies to make delivery faster, cheaper and better.
Current financial services do not meet the needs of migrant workers. For instance, migrant workers have limited opportunities to save and build wealth. While formal banking and remittances have increased in India, the cost of access still remains high. At the same time, access to formal banking and remittances is yet to translate into expansion of affordable formal insurance and credit. Women are even more underserved across various financial products and services. Potential solutions include (but are not limited to):
- Access to low-cost savings, insurance and credit products.
- Reduce costs and risks for service providers through mechanisms such as alternative credit scores, open APIs, etc.
- Improve literacy, trust and decision-making around financial products.
Migrant workers often earn below the statutory minimum, and work under challenging conditions. Women are paid ~20% lower than men for the same work. Jobtech solutions can disrupt such unfavourable labour markets through innovative use of technology to reduce job search costs, improve information availability and bargaining power, and enable more people to gain decent work. Potential solutions include (but are not limited to):
- Matching workers with offline jobs such as construction, domestic work, care services, home/technical services, etc.
- Creating online economic opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled workers.
- Tools that enable workers to verify their professional identity and credentials and leverage their own data to access economic opportunities.
- Upskilling and placement via technology platforms, potentially linked with affordable financial products.
At destination, migrant families have limited access to affordable basic services such as housing, energy, electricity, water, health, and education. Exceptionally promising innovations that can expand access to any of these basic services will be considered.
Who Should Apply
- Pre-revenue solutions with the potential to create impact at scale and demonstrate business model sustainability.
- Solutions that leverage existing digital public infrastructure (DPI) or demonstrate use cases for emerging DPIs will be preferred.
- Solutions catering to broader groups or other segments, with the potential to integrate migrant workers to unlock viability at scale, will also be considered.
Program Offerings
Access to over 4 million migrant workers across 13 states in India, in addition to on-ground operational support.
Solutions that leverage science and technology will have access to Social Alpha’s state-of-the-art innovation labs.
Access to potential partners for user research, prototyping, marketing, and distribution.
Mentorship by global and local experts in building viable market-based solutions for low-income communities.
Grant funding of up to INR 50 lakhs.
Ventures that graduate successfully can pitch for seed funding with Social Alpha and other partners in our network.
Important Dates
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Launch of Techtonic – Innovations for Future Ready Migrant Workforce
December 15th, 2023
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Deadline for Applications
February 16th, 2024
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Evaluation
March 26th, 2024
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Announcement of Winners
March 28th, 2024
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Acceleration and Pilot Deployment
April 15th, 2024
Our Partners
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