NSO to prioritise ministry surveys in first 100 days after elections: Official

The additional surveys may include assessing industrial inputs.

The government will start work on a number of additional National Statistics Office (NSO) surveys in 100 days after elections. A high-level steering committee will hold its first meeting next week on the matter, a senior government official said.

“A number of ministries, including agriculture, commerce, labour, tourism and health, have sought for additional surveys. The steering committee, formed by the National Statistical Commission, will take a decision on the subject of the additional surveys. It will have its first meeting next week. They will decide and approve the number of additional surveys, it will be like a governing council,” the official told Moneycontrol. The steering committee is chaired by the chief statistician of India and the secretary to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MOSPI).

The work on additional surveys will begin from July 2024 after the general elections. The additional surveys may include assessing tourism in different states, diseases in the senior citizens and other age groups, and industrial inputs, the official said. “The cost of the additional surveys will be borne by the respective ministries who have asked for these.”

The steering committee will also take a decision if the additional surveys will be carried out by the NSO or may be outsourced.

“The NSO has the capacity for some additional surveys, if necessary, will also use contractual methods. The NSO is now using some contracts because of a lot of positions lying vacant for junior statistical officers,” he said.

The statistical body is responsible for analysing and releasing some of the key macroeconomic data critical to the Indian economy, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and retail inflation or Consumer Price Index. The computation of these data assumes significance in view of evidence-based policymaking in the country. It is the Statistical Wing of the MOSPI.

A number of key surveys are also administered by the NSO, including an Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. The MOSPI also inked a pact earlier this year with National Remote Sensing Centre under ISRO to digitalise Urban Frame Survey.