The Union government has set up a technical expert group (TEG) to guide the National Statistics Office under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to conduct an all-India income distribution survey, tentatively scheduled for 2026.
The move comes amid efforts from the Centre to plug in data gaps and improve the availability of official data.
The TEG will be headed by Surjit S. Bhalla, former executive director for India at the International Monetary Fund, as the chairman.
Besides members from MoSPI, the TEG will also comprise Aloke Kar, former professor at the Indian Statistical Institute-Calcutta, Sonalde Desai of National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) - New Delhi, Praveen Jha of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at JNU, Srijit Mishra, School of Economics - University of Hyderabad, Tirthankar Patnaik, chief economist of NSE, Rajesh Shukla, MD and CEO at People Research on
India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE), and Ram Singh, director of the Delhi School of Economics.
“The expert group will guide finalisation of concepts and definition, preparations of the survey method and instruments, sampling design and method of estimation, and incorporate best country practices as adopted across the world,” a statement from the government said.
The survey will also strive to assess the impact of the adoption of technology on household income (wages),” the statement added.
Past efforts
The government on Monday said that despite the extensive experience, the National Sample Survey (NSS) has not yet undertaken a comprehensive, full-fledged survey on income distribution.
Although pilot surveys have been attempted in the past, these efforts did not
culminate in a nationwide survey.
Recognising the growing significance of such data, NSS acknowledges the urgent need for a dedicated income distribution survey to better understand the profound structural changes that have occurred in the Indian economy over the past 75 years,” the statement said.
MoSPI, too, in the past had made efforts in collecting information on household income along with consumer expenditure surveys on an experimental basis in the 9th round (May-September 1955) and 14th round (July 1958-June 1959), but the information was not released.
Another attempt was made as part of the Integrated Household Survey in its 19th round (July 1964 - June 1965) and 24th round (July 1969 – June 1970).
But these efforts were not continued as estimates of income turned out to be lower than that of consumption and savings put together.
In 1983-84, another attempt was made by the NSS of a pilot enquiry on household income, but that could not transform into an all-India survey.
Efforts have also been made in the past by private research organisations such as NCAER and PRICE to conduct Household Income Surveys.
Importance of a survey
The household income survey is crucial as it will generate vital information for deriving income distribution, create a better picture of income inequality and help the government to better design the welfare schemes.
Given the diverse demographics of the country, covering the rural and urban populations, such a survey would also help reveal regional and temporal variations.
Faced with criticism for the delay in providing accurate and up-to-date data, particularly census data, which is critical for health policy planning, the government announced earlier this month its intent to conduct a population census, the reference date of which is March 1, 2027.