National Statistical Organisation (NSO)

• The Government of India recently appointed a panel under the chairmanship of Pronab Sen, former Chief Statistician of India to review the methodology of the National Statistical Organisation (NSO).

ABOUT NATIONAL STATISTICAL ORGANISATION (NSO)

• NSO acts as the nodal agency under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for planned development of the statistical system in the country, lays down and maintains norms and standards in the field of statistics, involving concepts and definitions, methodology of data collection, processing of data and dissemination of results.
• The National Statistical Office(NSO) consists of the
  • Central Statistical Office (CSO),
  • Computer center and
  • National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
• On 23^rd May 2019, the Indian government passed the order to merge the National Sample Survey Offic (NSSO) with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to form the National Statistical Office (NSO).
• Functions–
  • Acts as the nodal agency for planned development of the statistical system in the country.
  • Prepares national accounts as well as publishes annual estimates of national product.
  • It compiles and releases the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) every month in the form of ‘quick estimates’;
  • conducts the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI);
  • Conducts periodic all-India Economic Censuses.
  • Maintains liaison with international statistical organizations, such as, the United Nations Statistical Division, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

ABOUT INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (IIP)

• It is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
  • Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
  • Use-based sectors like capital goods, basic goods, intermediate goods, infrastructure goods, consumer durables, and consumer non-durables.
• Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
• The eight core industries of India represent about 40% of the weight of items that are included in the IIP.
• In decreasing order of their weightage, these include: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.