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National Sample Survey (NSS) completes 75 Years | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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National Sample Survey (NSS) completes 75 Years

Posted 21 Jul 2025

2 min read

NSS was established in 1950 by P.C. Mahalanobis to collect economic and social information from the whole country on the basis of random sampling.

About NSS

  • Ministry: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
  • Headed by a Director General: Responsible for conduct of large scale sample surveys on All India basis.
  • Coverage:
    • Household surveys on socio-economic subjects: E.g. surveys on population, birth, death, migration, fertility, family planning etc.
    • Surveys on land holding, livestock and agriculture.
    • Establishment surveys and enterprise surveys: E.g. non-agricultural enterprises in unorganized sector and collection of rural retail prices in rural areas.
    • Village surveys: Formation on availability of infrastructure facilities in Indian villages.
  • Four Divisions of NSS:
    • Survey Design and Research Division (SDRD): Located at Kolkata, it is responsible for technical planning of surveys, formulation of concepts and definitions, sampling design etc.
    • Field Operations Division (FOD): With its headquarters at Delhi/Faridabad is responsible for the collection of primary data.
    • Data Processing Division (DPD): Headquarters at Kolkata is responsible for sample selection, software development, processing, validation and tabulation of data.
    • Survey Coordination Division (SCD): Located at New Delhi, coordinates all the activities of different Divisions of NSS.

Major Surveys of NSS

  • Urban Frame Survey (Phase 2022-27):To establish and update a reliable sampling frame for urban areas, crucial for conducting socio-economic surveys. 
  • Annual Survey of Industries (ASI): To assess and evaluate changes in the growth, composition and structure of organized manufacturing sector.
  • Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted from 2017 has been the primary source of statistics on labour force.
  • Price Survey ( Consumer Price Index-Urban & Rural, Consumer Price Index (AL/RL) and Wholesale Price Index)
  • Tags :
  • P.C. Mahalanobis
  • National Sample Survey
  • Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
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