Economic census from July 25

The directorate of economics and statistics of Andhra Pradesh is conducting an economic census, thefifth in the past 28 years, focussing mainly on enterprises in the unorganised sector from July 25 to 31, 2005. The exercise is funded by the Government of India, which is expected to cost about Rs 7.5 crore.

About 40,000 enumerators, mostly drawn from various government departments, have been roped in to conduct the survey, Saroja Ramarao, director of Economics and Statistics said.

The information and data collected in the survey are expected to be utilised for formulating social security policies at national level among other things, she said.

"This is first time that we are going to undertake an exhaustive survey on economic activity in the unorganised sector, which will cover both family centred and establishments which employ people" she said.

The number of enterprises in the unorganised sector is expected to go up to 38 lakh from 29 lakh as per the 1998 economic census.

The number of people employed in unorganised sector, other than agriculture, is expected to cross one crore mark this time from the estimated 70 lakh during the last census, as per the projections of the directorate.