The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), conducted a one-day All-India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) for the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2026 at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on December 17, 2025. The workshop is a key preparatory training programme conducted ahead of the nationwide field operations of these flagship surveys. A total of 300 participants from Zonal, Regional and Sub-Regional offices including the officers from Household Survey Division (HSD) and Enterprise Survey Division (EnSD), Kolkata, attended the workshop.

Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, inaugurated the workshop. In his address he highlighted that ASUSE and PLFS are among the most important surveys of the National Statistical System, providing vital insights on labour markets and the unincorporated sector. He emphasised that States and Ministries are increasingly recognising data needs on these sectors. He mentioned that United Nations has now recognized data as a strategic asset with more focus on data analysis for policy making.  He emphasized how credible, reliable and timely data is essential for national development. With the growing use of analytics and Artificial Intelligence, the Secretary stressed that data quality at the field level is paramount, as policy outcomes depend on the integrity of the data collected. He also underlined the significance of district-level estimates and urged trainers to ensure uniform understanding of concepts and rigorous training of field staffs.

 

Smt. Geeta Singh Rathore, Director General, National Sample Survey (NSS), noted that NSS is internationally recognised for conducting large-scale, transparent and methodologically robust sample surveys and mentioned about the NSS’s transition from paper to CAPI mode. She elaborated that conceptual and operational changes have been introduced in ASUSE and PLFS based on user feedback and evolving data requirements and the workshop is conducted for understanding these changes prior to undertaking the survey on field.

Senior officers from the Field Operations Division (FOD), EnSD, HSD and Coordination & Quality Control Division (CQCD) of NSS stressed the importance of training and effective coordination and supervision to achieve desired data quality. It was highlighted that reliability, transparency and standardisation are fundamental to maintaining user trust in official statistics and encouraged structured feedback from the field for continuous improvement.

 

The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 is devoted exclusively to economic and operational characteristics of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in manufacturing, trade and other services sector while the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is the primary source of official data on labour force participation, employment, and unemployment in India. These surveys will cover the whole of the Indian Union except the villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain difficult to access throughout the year and will commence from January 2026.

Based on the Data User Conferences and stakeholder consultations, some changes were introduced in the ASUSE and PLFS questionnaire. The key changes in ASUSE 2026 include adoption of National Industrial Classification (NIC) -2025 and alignment with Central Product Classification (CPC) 3.0. In addition, from 2026, inward transportation charges, like transportation charges paid for procuring raw material, other freight or cartage charges incurred for transportation by railways, road, water and air will also be collected.

In PLFS, additional questions have been introduced in from January 2026 to capture the volume of platform workers who are engaged in production of good and/ or services by accessing digital platform. Platform work is an arrangement in which matching between workers and clients is intermediated through a digital or online platform. Further, PLFS schedule has been updated to collect industry related information from January 2026 by using NIC- 2025 enabling surveys to capture economic activities with much finer detail. Aligned with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 5 of the United Nations Statistics Division, NIC-2025 ensures greater comparability of Indian data with international datasets and cross-country analyses.

The workshop witnessed active participation from master trainers from all States and Union Territories, who will further conduct zonal and regional-level trainings for enumerators and supervisors. The AIWOT concluded with a reaffirmation of commitment to professionalism and quality, aimed at ensuring the successful conduct of ASUSE 2026 and PLFS 2026, thereby strengthening India’s statistical system.

         

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Samrat

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