The story so far: The Government of India recently appointed a panel under the chairmanship of Pronab Sen, former Chief Statistician of India to review the methodology of the National Statistical Organisation (NSO).
Why is there a need for review?
This happened in the backdrop of articles by Shamika Ravi and Bibek Debroy arguing that the usage of outdated survey methodology by national surveys such as the National Sample Survey (NSS), National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), have systematically underestimated India’s development. According to them, this archaic methodology has failed to capture reality in the recent past as the “Indian economy has been incredibly dynamic in the last 30 years”. On the other hand, P. C. Mohanan and Amitabh Kundu have reasoned that there is no systematic underestimation of development by these national surveys. Therefore, there is no need for restructuring and overhauling the survey methodology just because it doesn’t suit certain narratives of development. However, they accept that there may be errors, which should be minimised. They also advocate the usage of appropriate sample weights to make the national sample adequately representative.
