An Innovative Jobs Program in Odisha, India Helped Informal Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond

This case study describes the Urban Wage Employment Initiative (UWEI) in Odisha, India, a large-scale public works program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to support urban poor, informal, and migrant workers. The program focused on climate-resilient infrastructure and was later institutionalized as a permanent scheme called MUKTA.

• The Urban Wage Employment Initiative (UWEI) was launched by Odisha’s Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) shortly after the March 24, 2020 lockdown to provide jobs for the urban poor, informal workers, and migrant laborers through public works projects focused on climate resilience.
• The program delivered significant climate-resilient and community infrastructure across 114 cities in Odisha, including rainwater-harvesting structures, water drain desilting, flood-mitigation works, 800 mini parks, 300 playgrounds, 1,200 open-air gyms, and 350 kilometers of paved walkways.
• UWEI served as an emergency response that employed 700,000 urban workers and distributed $12 million in wages. In February 2021, the state government converted it into a permanent program called MUKTA (Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan).

APA

World Resources Institute (2023). An Innovative Jobs Program in Odisha, India Helped Informal Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond. https://www.wri.org/insights/odisha-india-jobs-informal-workers

Chicago

World Resources Institute. An Innovative Jobs Program in Odisha, India Helped Informal Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond. 2023. https://www.wri.org/insights/odisha-india-jobs-informal-workers.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=An Innovative Jobs Program in Odisha, India Helped Informal Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond |date=3 January 2023 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/odisha-india-jobs-informal-workers |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2023innovative, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{An Innovative Jobs Program in Odisha, India Helped Informal Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/odisha-india-jobs-informal-workers}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }