Quick Inputs From Citizens Could Improve Public Policy Responses

Administrative data and traditional surveys can be supplemented with high-quality rapid polling

- NEELANJAN SIRCAR & PRIYA VEDAVALLI

India's data landscape has evolved significantly lately, with the advent of digital public infrastructure that has opened new avenues of information collection. Also, traditional surveys such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey and National Sample Survey offer high-quality data on the socioeconomic characteristics of the population.

What persists as a gap is the ability to understand dynamic situations in need of immediate policy responses. Frequent citizen inputs and data gathering from sub-populations that are typically hard to reach through traditional methods could change that.

The way forward should involve an integrated approach in which the strengths of both administrative data and traditional surveys are leveraged to understand socioeconomic realities in a holistic way, with 'rapid citizen data'—collected directly from people via quick field surveys, phone calls, etc—offering a picture of developing situations. The Artha Centre for Rapid Insights has tested use-cases where such data can be helpful for responsive policy.