Key economic ministries in India have requested technical and manpower support from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) for a fresh set of surveys. The surveys aim to bolster their database for suitable policy action and cover areas such as tourism footfall surveys, ailments among the elderly, and price estimation of industrial inputs. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the survey wing of the statistics ministry, will conduct these surveys. The NSSO conducts large-scale sample surveys in diverse fields across India and collects data on various socio-economic subjects. The ministry will likely start conducting the additional surveys after the elections. Private agencies may be contracted to conduct certain surveys due to resource constraints, but there are concerns about the accuracy of results from such agencies. Experts suggest expanding the capacities of the NSSO to conduct the extra surveys.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in India has established a 26-member Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) to determine the base year for gross domestic product (GDP) data. The committee, chaired by Biswanath Goldar, will review data sources, align GDP with inflation and industrial indices, and advise on the compilation and presentation of national accounts. The committee includes members from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Agriculture, the GST Network, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The committee will have a tenure of five years or until the completion of the next base year. The government aims to align the base year of all data releases and is expected to make a decision on the base year revision by the end of the year. [b89f7de6] [e7e474ef]