Lok Sabha Question No. 639 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-27
Subject: Regular Surveys
Ministry: STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
Asked by: K. GOPAL

639. DR. K. GOPAL:

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

- (a) whether the Government proposes to move a more regular survey,  conducted  annually,  with  some  reports  coming  out on a quarterly basis;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  design  of  the  new  annual  employment  survey has been finalised on the basis of a peer and stakeholders review of the pilot survey's outcomes; and
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  MINISTRY  OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION AND MINISTER OF STATE  FOR  MINISTRY  OF  EXTERNAL  AFFAIRS  [GENERAL  (Dr.)  V.K. SINGH (Retd.)]

- (a):   Yes, Madam.
- (b): At  present,  widely  used  comprehensive  data  on  labour  market (i.e., employment and unemployment statistics) are available only from Employment and Unemployment Surveys conducted by NSSO once in five years. On  the  recommendation  of  the  National  Statistical Commission (NSC), a proposal to carry out Employment and Unemployment  Survey  at  more  frequent  intervals,  namely,  Periodic

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 639

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 27 th  APRIL, 2016

## REGULAR SURVEYS

Labour Force Survey (PLFS), has been included in 12 th  Five Year Plan (2012-17) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to measure changes in the labour market on quarterly/annual basis. The main objective of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is to  measure  quarterly  changes  of  various  indicators  of  the  labour market in urban areas as well as to generate the annual estimates of different  labour  force  indicators  both  in  rural  and  urban  areas.  The estimates  will  be  brought  out  at  State/UT  and  all  India  level.  The Annual  estimates  of  the  parameters  from  the  PLFS  (both  rural  and urban  areas)  will  broadly  cover  (i)  Labour  Force  Participation  Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) & Unemployment Rate (UR), (ii) Distribution  of  workers  by  industry  and  occupation,  and  (iii)  Average earnings  of  workers.  The  quarterly  estimates  of  changes  for  urban areas  will  inter-alia  cover  Labour  Force  Participation  Rate  (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR). (c)  &  (d):  Yes,  Madam.  Government  has  constituted  a  Standing Committee on Labour Force Statistics (SCLFS) under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. P. Mukherjee with eminent experts/stakeholders and representatives from major user Ministries/Departments of the Government  for  the  purpose  of  coordinating  and  integrating  labour force  surveys  in  the  country  and  to  recommend  sampling  design  for surveys  on  labour  force  statistics,  including  PLFS,  by  taking  into account related international and national standards and other aspects.  The Committee has finalized the sampling design for PLFS and it has been submitted for the approval of the National Statistical Commission.

*****