The National Sample Survey (NSS) since its beginning in 1950 by launch of first round of Household Consumption Expenditure Survey and other allied indicators, for the last 75 years, has quietly but firmly anchored India’s National Statistical System, providing the reliable data and indicators that underpin socio-economic policy, planning and evaluation. Its large-scale sample surveys, intricate methodological frameworks and nationwide data-collection have offered the Government, policymakers, Industries, researchers and citizens a strong foundation on which diverse realities of India’s population, labour market, consumption patterns, health and education outcomes across states and sectors could be understood.
In recent years, the NSS has rejuvenated and re-invented itself by undertaking many structural and functional transformation to make it relevant and indispensable in the service of the nation. To meet the user requirements the NSS has undertaken several path breaking new initiatives to enhance frequency, diversity in subject coverage, granularity and most importantly timeliness.
The NSS is now embarking the path of metamorphosis with a goal to be user centric, future ready integrated system to meet the requirements of stakeholders in real-time at more granular data and responsive to needs of both private and government sector. To achieve this goal, NSS has undergone structural transformation from “form process based to product-based system” with an aim to provide turnkey services by the survey verticals with respect particular product/survey. Further, zonal offices have been re-envisioned as dynamic regional centres of excellence for capacity-building and improving data quality.
Over the last 75 years through flagship surveys such as Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), Price Collection and Time Use Survey, NSS data has been bedrock over which key economic indicators have been compiled in the country. Now In addition to its regular flagship surveys like ASI, HCES and PLFS, NSS has widen the subject coverage to new area like tourism, rail travel, CAPEX intention of private sector, migration and the health of the MSME sector. Additionally, the NSS has undertaken short term survey on ICT skills and expense on education, Forward-Looking Survey on Private Sector CAPEX Investment Intentions Survey and others provide regular, reliable inputs for government and private sector alike for evidence-based policy formulation and strategic decisions. Further, to meet the growing demand for new and specialised surveys, the NSS has empanelled survey institutions the country. This collaboration will be a win-win strategy for both the NSS and other survey institutions in strengthening the statistical system of the country.
{{/usCountry}}Over the last 75 years through flagship surveys such as Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), Price Collection and Time Use Survey, NSS data has been bedrock over which key economic indicators have been compiled in the country. Now In addition to its regular flagship surveys like ASI, HCES and PLFS, NSS has widen the subject coverage to new area like tourism, rail travel, CAPEX intention of private sector, migration and the health of the MSME sector. Additionally, the NSS has undertaken short term survey on ICT skills and expense on education, Forward-Looking Survey on Private Sector CAPEX Investment Intentions Survey and others provide regular, reliable inputs for government and private sector alike for evidence-based policy formulation and strategic decisions. Further, to meet the growing demand for new and specialised surveys, the NSS has empanelled survey institutions the country. This collaboration will be a win-win strategy for both the NSS and other survey institutions in strengthening the statistical system of the country.
{{/usCountry}}Since the beginning of 2025, the NSS focussed aim was to strengthen decentralised governance and to meet the continued demands for district-level statistics of key socio-economic indicators and made provision to generate district level estimates in all its surveys. Most of the states have been on boarded and provided handholding for technical and financial assistance through capacity-building. District level estimates would help states for Identification of intra-state disparities, evidence-based allocation of resources, strengthening outcome-based monitoring frameworks and local developmental planning.
In the fast changing economy timely and high frequency economic indicators for quick decision on course corrections and policy interventions both in government and private sector, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has recently started publishing key economic indicators on labour such as Workers Population Rate (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) on monthly and key indicators like number of establishments, Gross Value Added (GVA) and number of workers in unincorporated sector on quarterly basis from PLFS and ASUSE survey respectively.
The NSS has now embraced technology in a big way by adopting Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) for collection of data for all its surveys with in built-in validation and quality checks and a provision for traceability on integrated e-Sigma platform with cloud storage. Adoption of CAPI, has significantly improved quality and also enabled drastic reduction in time required for publication of survey results.
To create awareness for data as a public good and with an aim to enhance transparency and user engagement, NSS has taken several initiatives to engage with wide range of stakeholders such as researchers, academic institutes, industry associations, RWAs, students, NGOs, think-tanks, private financial institutions and industries through regular data user’s conferences, brainstorming sessions, panel discussions and by publishing the schedule/questionnaire on its website for wider consultations before initiation of any survey. It is also encouraging academic institutions and think-tanks to undertake research on NSS data to derive new insights for better policy formulation by the government and industry alike for development.
The launch of e-Sankhyiki Portal in June, 2024 has further facilitated centralised and user-friendly platform for accessing official statistics of India including NSS data. It integrates datasets from multiple divisions, including the NSO to support evidence-based policymaking, research, and public use. Hosting over 1.7 million records, the portal emphasises ease of discovery, download, and reuse of data. NSS data on employment, consumption, health, and enterprises is a core component of this portal. It removes barriers of fragmented sources and complex navigation by aggregating surveys like the 78th Round Multiple Indicator Survey, 79th Round Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, PLFS, and Annual Survey of Enterprises. Advanced search tools allow filtering by round, theme, or geography, while granular queries enable precision analysis. The portal also supports sharing, provides metadata and methodology documents, and ensures mobile accessibility via apps like GoIStats. Thus e-Sankhyiki has transformed NSS data into dynamic, actionable resources, and strengthens transparency, efficiency, and India’s digital governance goals.
With these landmark initiatives, the NSS is closer and accessible to users more than ever before. As the NSO marks “75 Years of the National Sample Survey,” it is not simply reaching the milestone of 75 years, but rather celebrating being 75-years young—vibrant, agile and fully poised for the challenges ahead. Over its journey, it has built a reputation as the trusted source of India’s socio-economic indicators, but today it has reinvented itself with structural and functional changes. The NSS now stands ready to deliver the vital data that will track progress, fill the data gaps and empowering policymakers, stakeholders and citizens alike to realise the vision of a Viksit Bharat@2047.
This article is authored by Geeta Singh Rathore, director general and MS Subramanya Rao, deputy director general, National Statistics Office.