Census, economic data overhaul in the works

THE CENTRE IS planning a number of steps to improve the quality of the country's economic data, including kicking off the long-delayed population census, according to people familiar with the matter.

- RUCHI BHATIA

The statistics ministry has made a number of proposals that have been discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office in the past month, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. These include reviving the survey of businesses, last released in 2014, and publishing the household consumption survey on an annual basis, the people said. The government also plans to introduce a uniform base year for key indicators and update the basket of goods for calculating inflation, they said.

Separately, the government is also considering a new population census once elections are completed, the people said. The census is usually conducted once a decade, and was last published in 2011, with the most recent survey delayed because of the pandemic.