Lok Sabha Question No. 5276 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Accuracy of Self-reported Expenditure
Ministry: STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
Asked by: Smt. Bijuli Kalita Medhi, Shri Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5276 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025

## ACCURACY OF SELF-REPORTED EXPENDITURE

5276. SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

SMT. BIJULI KALITA MEDHI:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the  measures taken  to  ensure  the  accuracy  of  the  self-reported expenditure data and reduce discrepancies;
- (b) the categories of goods and services covered in the survey;
- (c) whether any new categories have been added therein as compared to the previous survey; and
- (d) the  measures  adopted/followed  in  the  said  survey  to  ensure representation of the rural and urban households across different States specially Chhatisgarh and income groups?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS  AND  PROGRAMME  IMPLEMENTATION;  MINISTER  OF STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF  PLANNING AND  MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  CULTURE  [RAO INDERJIT SINGH]

- (a): National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) conducts survey on Household Consumption Expenditure at regular intervals wherein information on consumption  of  food  and  non-food  items  by  the  household  are collected.  The  latest  survey  on  Household  Consumption Expenditure (HCES: 2023-24) was conducted during August, 2023 - July, 2024 and the findings of the same was published in the month of January, 2025. NSO  is  committed  to  ensuring  accurate  and  reliable  data  from  the target  population  while  minimizing  non-sampling  errors.  The  primary data  collection  is  being  done  in  digital  platform  using  Computer

Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) or web-based application with inbuilt validation mechanism to ensure consistency at the stage of data collection.  The  accuracy  of  the  data  is  ensured  by  multi-level  data scrutiny  and  validation  checks.  It  enhances  the  efficiency  of  data collection by enabling real-time data entry and validation significantly reducing  manual  errors.  Implementation  of  built-in  data  validation checks helps to flag  implausible  or  inconsistent  responses,  such  as extreme values or patterns that don't match typical spending behaviors.

(b): In the surveys of Household Consumption Expenditure conducted during 2022-23 & 2023-24, the information on around 405 items of food and non-food consumed by the household are collected. The following are the broad categories in which information was collected:

1. Cereals and cereal substitutes
2. Pulses and its products
3. Salt & sugar
4. Milk and its products
5. Vegetables
6. Fruits (fresh & dry)
7. Egg, fish & meat
8. Edible oil
9. Spices
10. Beverages
11. Packed and Served processed food
12. Pan, tobacco & intoxicants
13. Fuel & light
14. Toilet articles & other household consumables
15. Education
16. Medical (hospitalization & non-hospitalization)
17. Consumer service excluding conveyance
18. Conveyance
19. Entertainment
20. Rent
21. Other taxes & cesses
22. Clothing, bedding & footwear
23. Durable goods

(c): List  of  items  which  were  added  in  the  item  basket  of  HCES: 2022-23 & 2023-24 is given below:

|   SI. No. | Questionnaire                              | Sub-group                  | Items added                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Questionnaire FDQ (Food items)             | Fruits (dry)               | Almond, pistachio, hazelnut with other nuts                                                                                                                                                        |
|         2 |                                            | Packed processed food      |  Breakfast cereals (oats, cornflakes, muesli)  Nachos, puffs, wafers, etc.  Mayonnaise, cheese  Cup noodles, other ready to eat meals                                                          |
|         3 | Questionnaire CSQ (Consumables & services) | Toilet articles            |  Handwash, facewash, bodywash  Moisturizers  Mouthwash  hair colour/gel/serum  Conditioner  Eye make-up accessories  trimmer, epilators  body oil  deodorant, roll-ons                    |
|         4 | Questionnaire DGQ (Durable items)          | Clothing                   |  aftershave balm, etc.  Readymade suit set (male/female)  polos, tops, shrugs  dresses, jumpsuits  jeggings, joggers, track suits, track pant  sherwani, lehnga, gowns  sleep & lounge wear |
|         5 |                                            | Other personal goods       |  headphone, earphone, ear pod, bluetooth devices/ speakers etc.                                                                                                                                   |
|         6 |                                            | Sports & medical equipment |  exercise equipment: treadmill, fitness cycle, etc,  weighing machine  sports goods, toys (badminton, football, cricket bat, etc.)                                                              |

| SI. No.   | Questionnaire   | Sub-group                      | Items added                                                                                                                                                          |
|-----------|-----------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|           |                 |                                |  other sports equipment  wheelchair, massagers  other medical equipment                                                                                           |
| 7.        |                 | Cooking & household appliances |  Electric air heater/  blowers, air purifiers  freezers  generators, stabilizers  geyser & hot water system  induction  mixer/grinder, juicer, food processor |

- (d): In  order  to  make  the  sample  of  the  survey  representative,  the survey was conducted throughout the whole Indian territory including Chattisgarh (except some inaccessible villages of Andaman & Nicobar Islands) comprising rural and urban India. In the rural areas, villages are  considered  as  first  stage  units  which  is  based  on  Census  2011 population  (projected  by  applying  suitable  growth  rates)  and  in  the urban areas, blocks are considered as first stage units which is based on latest Urban Frame Survey (updated in 5-year interval). The sample is selected from all the States/UTs and the smallest sampling unit is FSU which is villages or part of village  in  the  rural areas and urban blocks  or  part  of  urban  blocks  in  urban  areas.  These  samples  are selected randomly  using statistical  methodology  (SRSWOR).  The households are the ultimate  unit  from  which  the  information  will  be collected.  For  this  survey,  three  different  stratifications  have  been formed  to  classify  the  households  separately  for  rural  and  urban areas.  In  the  rural  areas,  the  households  are  classified  into  three groups based on land possession while in the urban areas, ownership of  a  car  has  been  considered  to  categories  the  households.  The following three stratifications have been formed:

| SSS   | Urban                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| SSS 1 | Households with land possessed > X, where X is that 5% of the households had land possessed more that X as per th round SAS survey. was determined at Households owned one or more four-wheeler cars for non-commercial use as on date of listing whose combined purchase price was more than Rupees 10 lakhs |

|       | State/UT level                                                                                                                                                                                                     |                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| SSS 2 | Households with land possessed > Y and less than or equal to X, where Y is such that 20% of the households had land possessed more that Y as per NSS 77 th round SAS survey. This was determined at State/UT level | Households owned one or more four-wheeler cars for non-commercial use as on date of listing whose combined purchase price was less than or equal to Rupees 10 lakhs |
| SSS 3 | Remaining households                                                                                                                                                                                               | Remaining households                                                                                                                                                |