Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Food and Nutrition Security. 2. Housing. 3. Supply of Other Essential Commodities. 4. Health Security. 5. National Social Assistance Programme. 6. Land Reforms. 7. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). 8. Water Supply. 9. Sanitation. 10. Social Protection of the Elderly. 11. Social Protection Schemes of Women. 12. Social Protection Schemes for Children. 13. Social Protection of the Disabled. 14. Social Protections Schemes for SCs/STs and OBCs. 15. Social Security in the Context of Natural Disasters. 16. Schemes for Protection of Labour against Unemployment. Index. Social security is one of the basic human rights which is essential for the well-being of society. Every government has adopted programmes to ensure that the people generally are covered adequately by social security. The Government of India has been a pioneer in introducing social security measures for the protection of the people. Unfortunately these measures do not cover all the people and they do not provide adequate protection for all their needs. It is in the nature of a work in progress being developed over a course of time. Some years ago the author had carried out an exercise called Stocktaking of Social Protection Schemes on behalf of the Social Security Association of India to assess the social security situation in the country. Since then there has been much progress. Coverage has increased and the quanta of benefits have also increased. The Modi Government which took office in the year 2014 has made several improvements apart from introducing new schemes. Yet it cannot be said that social security has been extended to all the people or that all the benefits required by the people are being provided. It was therefore felt necessary to update the information contained in the stocktaking exercise and to identify areas where progress is yet to be achieved. Hence a fresh exercise in the form of another stocktaking has been undertaken in the volume. It is hoped that all the stake holders in the subject will find the book useful