Government Alliance
Enabling government systems to deliver poverty alleviation at scale.
Government Alliance
Enabling government systems to deliver poverty alleviation at scale.
The opportunity
India has built a strong foundation, and sufficient resources, to achieve a poverty-free India within our lifetime.
1947
80%
of India in poverty
2005
55%
of India in poverty
2015
25%
of India in poverty
2022
11%
of India in poverty
₹50L Cr
Govt expenditure budget, growing each year
9.1M
Self-help groups, 100M+ women organised
80–90M
People still in extreme poverty today
What remains
Why partner with government
How we work
- By enabling Opportunities — Access to capital, resources, markets and equitable livelihood pathways
- By building Capabilities — The skillset and mindset to build livelihoods resilient to shocks
Who we are
The/Nudge is an action institute building resilient livelihoods to alleviate poverty. We work with women, farmers, tribals and youth on economic inclusion and capacity building, alongside 15+ central and state government partners. All programme costs are funded by philanthropy, and are non financial partnerships with government.
Our advisors
What we do
India has built a strong foundation, and sufficient resources, to achieve a poverty-free India within our lifetime.
Economic inclusion programme
Supporting governments to prioritise, fund and implement an evidence-based graduation approach, enabling the most marginalised women and households to build resilient livelihoods over 36 months.
Programme outcomes
Sarathi — pan-india tech platform
T/NI supported MoRD in designing & developing National Tech Platform Sarathi for its graduation program.
InSight
Enabling governments and markets to provide near-vision glasses to 300M people with uncorrected presbyopia, boosting productivity and income of rural workers.
Incubator & Accelerator
Supporting early and growth-stage social entrepreneurs working on livelihoods with capital, mentorship, community and access to networks.
Innovation needs nurturing, and the incubator and accelerator is where bold ideas find the momentum to grow. We focus on strengthening organisations, unlocking capital, and enabling adoption, helping them translate validated models into solutions that can operate at scale.
Prize
Inducement challenges guiding markets to create breakthrough solutions for livelihoods problems, an 18-month journey supported by government and academia.
Charcha
Since 2020, Charcha has become India's leading platform for livelihood discussions, bringing together visionaries and changemakers from government, civil society, and markets to foster collaboration for resilient livelihoods.
DIRECT PROGRAMS
Working with state and central governments to alleviate poverty at scale
Economic inclusion programme
182K
7
states
- Food security
- Agency of women
- Reduced distress migration
- Resilient livelihoods
- Income & savings growth
- Access to entitlements
Sarathi — pan-india tech platform
T/NI supported MoRD in designing & developing National Tech Platform Sarathi for its graduation program.
InSight
100K+
4
DIRECT PROGRAMS
Working with state and central governments to alleviate poverty at scale
Incubator & Accelerator
182K
7
4
Prize
5
31Cr+
Charcha
6
15000+
Where we work
Working with 15+ central and state government partners across India.
How we partner with government
The/Nudge brings
Government enables
MoU
Formal
partnership
Zero cost to government
The/Nudge brings
- Research, design & implementation
- Policy formulation support
- Community cadre training
- Technology
- Monitoring & evaluation
MoU
Formal partnership
Zero cost to government
Government enables
- Programme ownership & direction
- Administrative directives
- Guidance & periodic reviews
- Last-mile delivery reach
- Community cadre
Formal
Partnership
Zero cost to
government
Government partnerships
Our partners & supporters
Set up with support from India’s most eminent philanthropists, corporates and foundations.
The/Nudge Institute is setup with support from 100+ eminent philanthropists, 40+ corporates and 15+ foundations, contributing towards a “poverty-free India, within our lifetime”
This enables our partnership model: all programme costs are covered by our donor community, at zero cost to government.
Foundations & Corporate partners
Board and Founding Supporters
Renu Sud Karnad
Former Managing Director, HDFC Ltd
Neelam Dhawan
Independent Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd
Arun Seth
Ex-Chairman, British Telecom & Alcatel Lucent
Binny Bansal
Co-founder & Executive Chairman, xto10x Technologies
Vinod Khosla
Co-founder of Sun Microsystems
Deep Kalra
Founder & Chairman of MakeMyTrip
Voices of our partners
Shri Devendra Fadnavis
Hon'ble Chief Minister of MaharashtraI am delighted to note that The/Nudge will be partnering with the Government of Maharashtra, specifically the district administration of Wardha District to create a model of Presbyopia Diagnosis and Glasses distribution free for the entire district. Preventable blindness control is one of my core focuses, and this will contribute tremendously towards the same.
Shri Hemant Soren
Chief Minister of JharkhandThe Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society's success stories compendium, Against All Odds: Inspiring Tales of SHG Women of Meghalaya, highlights powerful examples of rural women advancing livelihoods, strengthening community institutions, and building resilient local systems. The/Nudge Institute supported MSRLS in bringing these stories together, helping document effective practices and positive outcomes that can inform similar initiatives across the country.
Smt. Nita Kejriwal
Former Joint SecyAcross India, the graduation approach has reached over 2L beneficiaries. Globally, more than 100 organisations have adopted the approach in 50 different countries, reaching ~14M people. The adaptation of the graduation approach by SRLMs, NRLM and technical collaboration with institutions like The/Nudge can be the pathway for rapid scale up of poverty reduction in India.
Shri Conrad K. Sangma
Hon'ble Chief Minister of MeghalayaThe Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society's success stories compendium, Against All Odds: Inspiring Tales of SHG Women of Meghalaya, highlights powerful examples of rural women advancing livelihoods, strengthening community institutions, and building resilient local systems. The/Nudge Institute supported MSRLS in bringing these stories together, helping document effective practices and positive outcomes that can inform similar initiatives across the country.
Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan
Governor of Maharashtra, serving Vice President of IndiaThe/Nudge Institute's work through the Economic Inclusion Programme is truly commendable. Its dedicated efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable communities, including SCs, STs, PVTGs, single women-led families, distressed migrants, the landless, and daily wage labourers, are praiseworthy. Its continued collaboration with State Rural Livelihood Missions for the socio-economic development of families living in distress is equally remarkable.
