PDAG has worked closely with NITI Aayog, Government of India, on strengthening policy and institutional approaches to migration, skilling, livelihoods and tribal welfare. In consultation with NITI Aayog and leading migration experts, PDAG designed the Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative (SRMI), one of India’s first post-COVID evidence-to-action initiatives on internal migration.

Approved by the Jharkhand State Cabinet and anchored within the Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development, Government of Jharkhand, SRMI established a multi-stakeholder institutional mechanism to strengthen the welfare and social security of more than 500,000 migrant workers from the state. The initiative brought together research, data systems, worker support mechanisms and coordination across government and other stakeholders to translate evidence on migration into policy and programme action. Over its first two years, SRMI was recognised across national and international forums on internal migration, including by the International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and other state governments.

Building on this work, PDAG has also contributed as a subject matter expert to NITI Aayog’s Employment, Skills and Livelihoods Vertical, providing policy inputs across migration and skilling, gender and livelihoods and tribal welfare. This engagement reflects PDAG’s wider approach of working within government systems to connect evidence, policy design and institutional mechanisms for more secure and inclusive labour mobility.