In a recent opinion article, Economic Advisory Council member Shamika Ravi article raised concerns about the quality of data that India’s national surveys – the National Sample Survey (NSS), the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), and the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – collect.
Dr. Ravi raises two main issues: overestimation of rural populations and different response rates across wealth groups proxied by income/expenditure, with lower response rates in wealthier groups. The combined inference is that these surveys may be biased towards underestimating urban, wealthier groups.
