The National Statistical Office (NSO, formerly National Sample Survey Organisation) has appealed to the public to co-operate with the sample surveys conducted by it as the data are vital for development planning and policy formulation.
Sunitha Bhaskar, Deputy Director General, Field Operations Division, NSO (Kerala and Lakshadweep), came out with a formal appeal in this regard on Monday.
Non-cooperation
NSO field officers have been facing non-cooperation in several places in the State with people fearing that the surveys are somehow linked to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act [CAA] and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The NSO sample surveys were unrelated either to the population census or the National Population Register (NPR), Ms. Bhaskar pointed out.
At the same time, data collected by the NSO were critical for the determination of poverty line, assessment of government programmes, consumption and expenditure patterns, entrepreneurial activities, estimation of unemployment rates, status of agricultural households and evaluation of facilities in health and education sectors.
With the protests threatening to derail its data collection, NSO is seeking to generate awareness about its surveys. It has also formally appealed to the State government for support. While NSO has not demanded police protection for its field officers, it has requested the police department to ensure a smooth working environment for them.
At the moment, a number of surveys were under way in the State, she said. Among others, this included the 78th round of socio-economic survey focusing on domestic tourism expenditure and multiple indicators, the periodic labour force survey, the 7th economic survey and the annual survey on unincorporated sector enterprises. The success of these surveys depended chiefly on the co-operation of the public, Ms. Bhaskar said. For the data collection, trained officers of the NSO would visit villages/urban blocks chosen on the basis of a scientifically-designed sample technique.
