The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) being nodal agency for planned development of statistical system in the country, is also responsible for maintaining the highest standards of data quality. The data provided by surveys of MoSPI is used by various Central Ministries/Departments, international agencies, etc as the official data source of various key indicators in India.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) under MoSPI has been conducting Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) since 2017 to estimate various indicators related to employment and unemployment in the country. The sampling design of PLFS has been revamped from January 2025 to address the requirement of high frequency labour market indicators with enhanced coverage from PLFS.

The data related to income inequality is not compiled by the Central Government. Furthermore, NITI Aayog has been entrusted with the task of formulating an indigenized index for measuring multi-dimensional poverty estimates.

NSO, MoSPI is committed to ensuring accurate, reliable and high-quality data in the large-scale surveys conducted across the country. To achieve this, robust and well- defined mechanisms are employed in different statistical products which undergo periodic improvements based on evolving needs, feedback, and advancements in methodologies to enhance their effectiveness. Upgradation and synergizing of existing IT based data collection techniques is a continuous process in MoSPI. The primary data collection in all surveys is being done in digital platform using Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) or web-based application with in-built validation mechanism to ensure consistency at the stage of data collection. This facilitates real-time submission and validation of survey data and has resulted into a drastic reduction in the time lag in releasing of survey reports. Further, whenever a new survey is taken up, possible methods and new technologies are explored for their appropriate adoption. For instance, some features of AI/ML have been introduced in enterprise surveys like CAPEX and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), CAPI has been made agile in ongoing surveys such as ASUSE, PLFS, etc.

MoSPI assists in development of statistics in the States/UTs by providing technical guidance, sampling design, survey instruments, and capacity-building support, including training and digital infrastructure like tablets, CAPI and cloud servers. States are also encouraged to form technical committees with local experts to examine data quality and outputs.

In order to enhance the transparency and timeliness of survey data, the reports of the survey results are released on the website of MoSPI alongwith the unit level data as per the timelines prescribed in the Advance Release Calendar of MoSPI. The revamped Micro-data portal, the GoIStats mobile app and e-Sankhyiki portal have been launched by MoSPI which facilitate easy dissemination of official statistics across the country with an aim to provide timely and valuable data inputs.

For the purpose of reviewing the framework and to address the issues raised from time to time on the subject, results, methodology, questionnaire, etc of the surveys of MoSPI, the Committee/Working Groups are in place which consist of expert members from various spheres such as Central Ministries/Departments, States/UTs, academia, research, economics, finance, etc.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

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Samrat/Allen

(Release ID: 2153073)