NSSO jobs data discredited as it challenges carefully cultivated narratives

In the first of a two-part series, the authors dispel misgivings about the methodology used by NSSO in its Periodic Labour Force Survey

The two-part article authored by the CEO of NITI Aayog (Business Standard February 6 and 7) raising questions on the report of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) on employment-unemployment strikes at the fundamentals of this widely respected institution and the well-established process followed by it. The provocation for discrediting the NSSO arose because the data collected by NSSO in its latest labour force survey purportedly contradicted certain carefully cultivated narratives. Unfortunately, this has raised questions on the independence of statistical agencies. This short note covers two broad issues. The first concerns the questions raised on the methodology used by