Strengthen statistics for a new era of data-driven governance

India's future depends on harnessing the power of data and the National Sample Survey can enable us to achieve this vision

- Amitabh Kant & Ranveer Nagich are, respectively, India's G20 Sherpa and senior policy specialist at the Office of G20 Sherpa.

Reliable statistical insights were virtually non-existent when India was still establishing itself as a newly independent nation. The setting up of the National Sample Survey (NSS) in 1950 marked a defining moment in India's post-independence economic planning. Spearheaded by Professor P.C. Mahalanobis, the NSS was designed to bridge critical data gaps in key economic and social indicators. Since its inception, the NSS has been the backbone of evidence-based governance.

Under the stewardship of pioneering statisticians like C.R. Rao, Debabrata Lahiri and V.M. Dandekar, the NSS evolved into a world-class statistical system. In 1951, its scope was expanded to urban India. In 1955, NSS crop cutting experiments (CCE) became the gold standard in estimating agricultural yields. Data collection was institutionalized by the formation of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in 1970. Since the 1980s, the NSS has widened its ambit to include health, education and informal-economy studies.

Surveys such as the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Time Use Survey, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), for instance, have informed our welfare and industrial policies. Now, surveys on service-sector enterprises and corporate investment intentions will offer richer insights into the Indian economy.

Aligning with global statistical standards, the independence, transparency and accessibility of NSS data has aided governments, researchers, private enterprises and civil society alike. The NSS has ensured that data remains a public good in India.