The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia at IFMR and The/Nudge Institute have partnered to accelerate the nationwide scale-up of the Graduation Approach, a proven model that helps families lift themselves out of extreme poverty. This collaboration focuses on government partnerships, capacity building, resource mobilization, and fostering coordination among governments, NGOs, donors, and multilateral agencies to expand the approach across India.
The/Nudge Institute will support the State Rural Livelihoods Missions in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand, with Madhya Pradesh preparing to adopt a similar model. J-PAL South Asia will work closely to ensure data-driven adaptations of the Graduation Approach in these states. The initiative responds to India’s ongoing poverty challenges, with around 195 million people still living in multidimensional poverty, according to NITI Aayog’s 2023 report.
Both organizations are part of the consortium supporting India’s Ministry of Rural Development on Samaveshi Aajeevika, the government’s flagship anti-poverty program based on the Graduation Approach. Programs like Samaveshi Aajeevika, grounded in scientific evidence, are central to combating poverty at scale. J-PAL South Asia’s collaboration with the Ministry began in 2024, supported by ASPIRE, a joint initiative of J-PAL South Asia and Veddis Foundation aimed at scaling impactful, evidence-based programs.
Through this partnership, J-PAL South Asia will conduct knowledge-sharing workshops to inform the implementation of the Graduation Approach, while The/Nudge Institute will integrate these insights into research and evaluation of government delivery systems. The Graduation Approach itself provides households with a productive asset, technical skills training, consumption support, access to savings, home visits for coaching, and health and life skills support over two years. Evaluations across seven countries over 16 years have shown that the full package improves living standards, income, savings, and food security.
The memorandum of understanding was signed at the India Scale-up Summit 2025 by Shobhini Mukerji, Executive Director of J-PAL South Asia, and John Paul, Head of Livelihoods Program at The/Nudge Institute. Mukerji highlighted the opportunity to integrate this scientifically validated intervention into India’s flagship anti-poverty program, while Paul emphasized the potential to generate evidence to strengthen nationwide scale-up efforts.
The India Scale-up Summit 2025 brought together leaders from government, philanthropy, academia, and civil society to showcase journeys from pilot projects to policy implementation. The event emphasized the importance of sustained collaboration, strategic investments, and government leadership to scale proven solutions in livelihoods, economic inclusion, education, gender equality, and climate resilience, marking a significant step toward embedding evidence at the core of India’s development agenda.
