- Why in news
- The National Statistics Office (MoSPI) is holding an All-India Workshop of Trainers for NHIS and ASISSE in Chennai on 28-29 January 2026, ahead of fieldwork that begins in April 2026.
- What it is
- The National Household Income Survey (NHIS) is a new NSO survey to measure household income and its distribution across India. The Annual Survey of Incorporated Service Sector Enterprises (ASISSE) is a companion enterprise survey on the corporate services sector. Both aim to fill long-standing gaps in official data on incomes and services.
- Who runs it
- The National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation organises both surveys.
- NHIS purpose
- NHIS covers living conditions and income distribution. It looks at returns to labour, capital and land, and allows comparisons across households and regions.
- ASISSE scope
- ASISSE covers only the corporate segment of services. It captures GVA, fixed capital, capital formation, employment and emoluments, with State and industry-level estimates.
- Coverage
- The surveys cover the whole Indian Union except hard-to-reach villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Don’t confuse with NHIS vs consumption expenditure survey: NHIS measures income directly. The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey measures spending, which has been used as a proxy for living standards.
Don’t confuse with ASISSE vs ASUSE: ASISSE covers incorporated (corporate) service enterprises using GSTN. ASUSE covers unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises.
Economy terms and data: 42 Prelims questions since 2013, rising in recent years; they test what a term or instrument means. In Mains, 12 news-triggered questions.
Why it matters
- Official household income data will help target welfare and assess inequality, since India has had no national income survey.
- Corporate services data by State and industry will improve GVA and GDP estimates for the largest sector of the economy.
Problems
- Households may under-report or misreport income, especially irregular and informal earnings.
- ASISSE's GSTN-based frame leaves out unincorporated service enterprises.
Way forward
- Use digital collection and validation checks to improve data quality.
- Link survey results with other data sources and publish results on time for policy use.
- 2025Mains GS3 · Q1Distinguish HDI and IHDI for India; why IHDI better indicates inclusive growth
- 2020Mains GS2 · Q16Analyse whether poverty depends on income alone, using UN multidimensional poverty report
- 2021Mains GS3 · Q1Explain differences in India's GDP computation methodology before and after 2015
- 2018Prelims Q3Statements on NSSO 70th Round agricultural households' income sources and social composition
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: First pan-India income survey is a lasting data topic, but this release is a trainers' workshop; UPSC rarely asks routine data questions.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.