Over half a dozen data collection exercises are being currently conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), in what is expected to provide a clearer picture on the current economic situation. It will also help in the updation of various indices including consumer price index (CPI), wholesale price index (WPI), and the index of industrial production (IIP). The results will however take time to be released, following which the updation of indices will be taken up.
Ongoing surveys by the NSSO, which is under the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, include the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), Time Use Survey, Urban Frame Survey, Agriculture Statistics Survey, and price collection survey.
Significantly, the NSSO is currently undertaking ASUSE, which provides data on non incorporated non-farm sector enterprises or informal sector enterprises that form a large chunk of the micro, small, and medium enterprises. The current ASUSE is for the year 2023-24, even though reports of previous years are yet to be released. The latest report available is for 2015-16. After that, the survey was to be conducted annually, but the results for four years–from 2016 to 2020–have not been released.
While PLFS is undertaken periodically to collect data on unemployment in the country, the first round of results of HCES 2022-23 was also released recently. A second round of HCES 2023-24 is currently underway. Data from both the surveys will then be used to update the basket of CPI or retail inflation as there will be more understanding of how households are spending. The price collection surveys are also expected to help with this.
Meanwhile, the government has released the data of ASI 2020-21 and 2021-22, which gives a picture of the country’s manufacturing enterprises and employment in the sector. The latest ASI being undertaken is for the fiscal year 2022-23.
The last Time Use Survey, which provides a framework for measuring time dispositions by the population on different activities, was conducted for the year 2019. The main objective of the survey is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities.
