Context: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has announced that it will conduct India’s first-ever dedicated Household Income Survey in 2026.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims : About India’s first-ever dedicated Household Income Survey in 2026.
India has never conducted a national-level household income survey. Past attempts like the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (1950s) and the Integrated Household Survey (1960s) failed to produce reliable income data, as income estimates were found to be lower than combined consumption and savings.
Objectives of Household Income Survey
- To measure household incomes to understand the income distribution.
- To understand the structural economic changes that occurred in the Indian economy over the past 75 years.
- To assess the impact of adoption of technology on wages.
Members:
- To guide the survey’s methodology, MoSPI has set up a Technical Expert Group (TEG) led by Dr. Surjit Bhalla, former IMF Executive Director and part time member of PM Economic Advisory Council.
- The Expert Group will guide key aspects such as definitions, survey methodology, sampling design, estimation techniques, and also ensure global best practices are followed.
Household Income Survey is an important initiative to generate vital information for deriving income distribution and welfare thereof. However, the challenges exist such as underreportion of incomes by the households, difficulty in accurately estimating incomes of households with seasonal employment etc.
Other Key Surveys & Indexes by MoSPI:
- Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
- Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys (HCES)
- Social Consumption Surveys (NSS Rounds)
- Survey on Unincorporated Enterprises
- Private Sector Capex Survey
- Domestic Tourism & Travel Survey