PRONAB SEN

'Nothing Can Correct Faulty Sampling Due to Delayed Census'

- Rajat Mishra

The delay in conducting the census, which was due in 2021, is making old population samples less representative, Pronab Sen, head of the Standing Committee on Statistics and former chief statistician of India, tells Rajat Mishra. He insists that there is nothing wrong with the sampling methodologies, rebutting allegations by Shamika Ravi, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, about the samples of national surveys being faulty. According to him, the discrepancies that she has referred to were because of the difference in purpose-specific definitions

What is the difference between the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) and the Consumption Expenditure Survey?

The SECC was conducted for the first time in 2011. The way it was done was to construct a multidimensional index, but there was no cut-off that was specified, which means that the line which is called the poverty line was not there. The SECC is a census, which means that it is done at the individual level. However, all sample surveys are conducted at the household level. The consumption survey measures only expenditure poverty. It is used as a proxy for the income. It does not measure multidimensional poverty; it is not designed to do so. The SECC was designed to identify individuals. You cannot use the National Family Healthy Survey to identify particular households. According to me, poverty is an income concept, not a deprivation concept.

How do you see the impact of the delay in conducting census in India?