GovTechPhilanthropy

Simple Steps, Big Change—How Indian Benefits Reach Every Family | Indus Action 2026 #SkollAwardee

Skoll Foundation
Skoll Foundation•Apr 7, 2026

Why It Matters

Simplifying benefit access accelerates poverty alleviation and maximizes the impact of India’s massive social‑spending, offering a scalable blueprint for inclusive development.

Key Takeaways

  • •Complex eligibility processes deny 80‑90% of poor families.
  • •Indus Action maps six poverty‑trigger moments to streamline aid.
  • •Mobile app cuts registration time from weeks to half‑hour.
  • •Platform targets 30 million users by 2030, improving access.
  • •Government partnership leverages $150 billion social spend efficiently for poor.

Summary

Indus Action, a Skoll‑Awarded nonprofit, unveiled a digital platform aimed at simplifying India’s labyrinthine social‑protection system. The organization identified six critical life‑event “moments”—birth, school entry, employment, job loss, health shock, and permanent disability—that often push vulnerable households back into poverty, and linked each to existing government schemes.

By digitizing eligibility verification and consolidating applications into a single mobile interface, registration time fell from one‑to‑six weeks to roughly thirty minutes. The app now automatically matches citizens with benefits such as cash grants, health insurance, and education scholarships, as illustrated by a mother who secured an electric rickshaw subsidy and a school‑fee waiver for her child.

Tarun Chirkuri, founder and CEO, emphasized that “the goal is to make the process less exhausting for both citizens and field workers, reshaping the interaction with government officials.” Field staff report that the streamlined workflow has restored trust in public services and enabled rapid disbursement of meals and health coverage.

If scaled nationally, the platform could reach 30 million users by 2030, unlocking a fraction of the $150 billion India spends annually on social programs. Faster, more accurate benefit delivery promises to reduce chronic exclusion, improve fiscal efficiency, and serve as a replicable model for other emerging economies.

Original Description

India has some of the world’s most comprehensive social benefits for citizens. Yet complex and onerous processes mean hundreds of millions of dollars in allocated funding never reach their intended recipients, including students, workers, and new mothers. This gap between policy intent and real-world impact traps millions of Indians in cycles of poverty. Indus Action works to change that. By redesigning how governments deliver benefits and conducting direct community outreach, Indus Action helps citizens understand and access all the entitlements they are eligible for—ensuring everyone has the support they need to thrive.
This film explores how tech-enabled, community-driven innovation can move an entire country forward. That’s impact at scale.
Visit Indus Action here: https://indusaction.org/
Check out the Skoll Profile here: https://skoll.wf/indusaction
About Tarun Cherukuri, Founder and CEO
Growing up in rural Andhra Pradesh with his single grandmother, Tarun Cherukuri accessed quality education across India and the world through public scholarships. After last-mile leadership roles as a chemical engineer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Unilever, the loss of his grandmother motivated him to join the inaugural cohort of TeachForIndia in 2009. As a Fellow, Cherukuri experienced the struggles of translating the promise of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009 into practical development outcomes for his children.   
In 2013, Cherukuri founded Indus Action to bridge the divide between delivery of social protection policies and vulnerable communities. The organization has since evolved into a leading policy implementation nonprofit that has enabled over 2.7 million vulnerable families in India to access entitlements, including education, maternity, livelihoods, and social security entitlements.
Cherukuri is a 2022 Ashoka Fellow, a 2021 GLG Social Impact Fellow, a 2019 Obama Foundation Fellow, a 2017 DRK Social Entrepreneur, a 2015 Harvard Kennedy School Emerging Global Leader, and a 2011 Fulbright and Joint Japan World Bank Scholar.
VIDEO CREDITS:
Directors - Abhijit V, Gabriel Diamond, Matthew Beighley
Editor - Matthew Beighley
Producer - Gabriel Diamond
Cinematography - Abhijit V, Hardhik T, Gabriel Diamond
Story Advisors - Jess Fleuti, Vu Dinh
Executive Producer - Phil Collis
Editorial - Alissa Gulin
Poster Design - Emily Lam
About the Skoll Awards For Social Innovation
The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Innovation each year to a select group of social innovators whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that are ripe for transformational social change.
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