Abstract

The 52nd round of the National Sample Survey was carried out by the National Sample Survey Office from July 1995 to June 2006 and included the following topics: consumer expenditure and labor participation, utilisation of maternity and child health care services, morbidity and utilisation of medical services, problems of aged persons, and participation in education.

Schedule 25.2 - Participation in Education - is documented here.

Details on educational services received by the household were collected from each sampled household. General demographic information such as age, sex, educational level attained, current enrolment status, etc., were collected from all the household members. But the target group of the schedule was household members age 5-24 years. The questions directed to those who were currently studying included details of the course, level and year of study, type of management of educational institution they were attending, whether the institution was recognised or not, the facilities utilised by them in terms of scholarship, free studentship, etc., and details of private expenditure on education incurred by them. Those currently not attending any educational institution were asked whether they were ever enrolled or not, whether they had completed their education or discontinued midcourse and what were the reasons for dropping out or for non-enrolment.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i) Leh (Ladakh) and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir (for central sample), (ii) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (iii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year.

Analysis unit

• household members 5-24 years old, irrespective of whether they are currently attending any educational institution or not.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage design was adopted in this round. The first-stage units were the census villages for the rural areas (panchayat wards in case of Kerala) and the NSSO Urban Frame Survey(UFS) blocks for the urban areas. The second stage units were the households in both the cases.

Sampling Frame for First-Stage Units (FSUs):

The list of census villages of the 1991 census (1981 census list for Jammu & Kashmir) constituted the sampling frame for the rural areas. For Kerala, however, the list of panchayat wards was used as the sampling frame for the selection of first stage units in the rural areas. For Nagaland, the villages located within 5 km of a bus route constituted the sampling frame, whereas for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the list of 'accessible' villages formed the sampling frame. For the urban areas, the list of NSSO Urban Frame Survey(UFS) blocks has been used as the sampling frame.

Stratification:

For the socio-economic surveys of the NSSO, each state or union territory (u.t.) is divided into one or more agro-climatic regions by grouping contiguous districts which are similar with respect to population density and crop pattern. In Gujarat, however, some districts are subdivided for the purpose of region formation on the basis of location of dry areas and the distribution of tribal population in the state. In all, there are 78 regions covering the entire geographical area of the country.

Allocation of First Stage Units (FSUs):

A sample of 13,000 FSUs (rural & urban combined) was selected as the 'central sample' at the all-India level. The sample size of FSUs (rural & urban combined) for the central sample for a state/u.t. was allocated to its rural and urban areas considering the relative sizes of the rural and urban population with double weightage to the urban areas. The state level rural sample size was allocated to the rural strata in proportion to their rural population figures as per the census. Similarly, urban sample size of the state/u.t. was allocated to the urban strata in proportion to urban population figures as per the census. All the stratum-level allocations were adjusted to multiples of 8 as far as possible (otherwise to multiples of 4) in order to allocate them equally in each sub-sample x sub-round combination (2 sub-samples x 4 sub-rounds).

Selection of First-Stage Units:

The sample FSUs in the rural areas were selected circular systematically with equal probability. In the Union Territory of Daman & Diu, the district Diu consists of only two villages. These two were selected for the survey in both the central and the state sample. Sample blocks in the urban areas were also selected circular systematically with equal probability. Sample FSUs of both the rural and urban areas were selected in the form of two independent sub-samples. The only departure from the general procedure of selection of FSUs was made for the rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh for which the procedure of cluster sampling was followed. The nucleus villages were selected circular systematically with equal probability, in the form of two independent sub-samples. A cluster, generally of 4 to 6 villages, was formed around each nucleus village.

Selection of Hamlet-Groups/ Sub-Blocks (for 'large' FSUs only):

A large FSU was divided into a suitable number of hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks having equal population content. Two hamlet-groups were selected from each large FSU in the rural areas and only one sub-block was selected from each large FSU of the urban areas.

Selection of Households (Second-Stage Units):

In each of the selected FSUs, three different enquiries, "Survey on Health Care", "Survey on Participation in Education" and "Survey on Consumer Expenditure", were conducted on three independent samples of the households. For the present enquiry, i.e. survey on education, a sample of 6 households was selected for the detailed enquiry. However, before selection, the listed households were first grouped into two second-stage strata.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Abstract

A nationwide survey on "Particulars of Slums" was carried-out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) during the period January-June, 1993 in its 49th round to ascertain the extent of civic facilities available in the slums. The 49th round survey among other objectives also collected data on the condition of slum dwellings as well as on some general particulars of slum areas. Apart from formulating the sampling design with an emphasis to obtain an adequate number of slum households for the survey on housing condition and migration, surveyed the slum areas and collected information on slums. The schedule 0.21 was canvassed in both the rural and urban areas. All the slums, both the declared ones as well as the others (undeclared), found in the selected first stage units were surveyed even if hamlet-group/sub-block selection was resorted to in some of then. To ascertain the extent of civic facilities available in the slums as well as the information regarding the improvement of slum condition during a period of last five years was also collected. Information was collected by contacting one or more knowledgeable persons in the FSU on the basis of predominant criterion in both declared and undeclared slums, and not through household approach.

Geographic coverage

The geographical coverage of the survey was the whole of the Indian Union except Ladakh & Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir, 768 interior villages of Nagaland and 172 villages in Andaman & Nicobar islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year. However, certain districts of Jammu & Kashmir viz. Doda, Anantanag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Badgam, Barmula & Kupwara, as well as Amritsar district in Punjab, had to be excluded from the survey coverage due to unfavourable field conditions.

Sampling procedure

Sample Design : The first stage units in the rural sector and urban sector were census villages and urban frame survey (UFS) blocks respectively. However for newly declared towns of the 1991 census,for which UFS frames were not available, census EBs were used as first stage units.

Sampling frame for fsu's : In the rural sector, the sampling frame in most of the districts was the 1981 census list of villages. However, in Assam and in 8 districts of Madhya Pradesh, 1971 Census lists of villages were used. For Nagaland, the villages situated within 5 kms of a bus route constituted the sampling frame. For the Andaman & Nicobar islands the list of accessible villages was used as sampling frame. In the urban sector, the lists of NSS urban frame survey (UFS) blocks were the sampling frames used in most cases. However, 1991 Census house - listing enumeration blocks were considered as the sampling units for some of the newly declared towns of the 1991 population census, for which UFS frames were not available.

Stratification : Each state/u.t. was divided into one or more agro-economic regions by grouping contiguous districts which are similar with respect to population density and crop pattern. In Gujarat, however, some districts were subdivided for the purpose of region formation on the basis of location of dry areas and the distribution of tribal population in the state. The total number of regions formed in the whole of India was 78.

In the rural sector, within each region, each district with a rural population of less than 1.8 million according to the 1981 Census formed a single basic stratum. Districts with larger population were divided into two or more strata, depending on population, by grouping contiguous tehsils, similar as far as possible in respect of rural population density & crop pattern. In Gujarat, however, in the case of districts extending over more than one region, the portion of a district falling in each region constituted a separate stratum even if the rural population of the district as a whole was less than 1.8 million. Further, in Assam, the strata formed for the earlier NSS round on the basis of 1971 Census rural population exactly in the above manner, but with a cutoff point of 1.5 million population, were retained as the strata for rural sampling.

In the urban sector, strata were formed, within NSS regions, on the basis of 1981 (1991 in some of the new towns) Census population. Each city with a population of 10 lakhs or more formed a separate stratum itself. The remaining towns of each region were grouped to form three different strata on the basis of 1981 (1991 in a few cases) census population.

Sub stratification of urban strata : In order to be able to allocate a large proportion of the first stage sample to slum-dominated areas than would otherwise be possible, each stratum in the urban sector was divided into two "sub-strata" a s follows. Sub-stratum 1 was constituted of the UFS blocks in the stratum with a "slum area" indicated in the frame. Substratum 2 was constituted of the remaining blocks of the stratum.

Allocation of sample : A total all-India sample of 8000 first stage units (5072 villages and 2928 urban blocks) determined on the basis of investigator strength in different state/u.t's and the expected workload per investigator was first allocated to the states/u.t's in proportion to Central Staff available. The sample thus obtained for each state/u.t. was then allocated to its rural & urban sectors considering the relative sizes of the rural & urban population with double weightage for the urban sector. Within each sector of a state/u.t., the allotted sample size was reallocated to the different strata in proportion to stratum population. Stratum-level allocations were adjusted so that the sample size for a stratum (rural or urban) was at least a multiple of 4. This was done in order to have equal sized samples in each sub-sample and sub-round.

In the urban sector, stratum-level allocations were further allocated to the two sub-strata in proportion to the number of UFS blocks in the sub-strata, with double weightage to sub-stratum 1, with a minimum sample size of 4 blocks to sub-stratum 1 (2 if stratum allocation was only 4). Sub-stratum level allocations were made even in number.

Selection of fsu's : Sample villages except in Arunachal Pradesh were selected by pps systematic sampling with population as the size variable and sample blocks by simple random sampling without replacement. In both sectors the sample of fsu's was drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples. (In Arunachal Pradesh the sample of villages was drawn by a cluster sampling procedure. The field staff were supplied with a list of sample "nucleus" villages and were advised to select cluster of villages building up each cluster around a nucleus village according to prescribed guidelines. The nucleus villages were selected circular-systematically with equal probability in the form of two ) independent sub-samples.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire consisted of 6 blocks (including 0) as given below : Block - 0 : descriptive identification of sample village/block having slum Block - 1 : identification of sample village/block having slum. Block - 3 : Remarks by investigator. Block - 4 : Comments by Supervisory Officer(s). Block - 5 : Particulars about slum.

Response rate

1572 slums spread over 5072 villages and 2928 urban blocks in the sample have been surveyed.

Abstract

The Employment and Unemployment surveys of National sample Survey (NSS) are primary sources of data on various indicators of labour force at National and State levels. These are used for planning, policy formulation, decision support and as input for further statistical exercises by various Government organizations, academicians, researchers and scholars. NSS surveys on employment and un-employment with large sample size of households have been conducted quinquennially from 27th. round(October'1972 - September'1973) onwards. Cotinuing in this series the fourth such all-india survey on the situation of employment and unemployment in India was carried out during the period july 1987 - june 1988 .

The working Group set up for planning of the entire scheme of the survey, among other things, examined also in detail some of the key results generated from the 38th round data and recommended some stream-lining of the 38th round schedule for the use in the 43rd round. Further, it felt no need for changing the engaging the easting conceptual frame work. However, some additional items were recommended to be included in the schedule to obtain the necessary and relevant information for generating results to see the effects on participation rates in view of the ILO suggestions.5.0.1. The NSSO Governing Council approved the recommendations of the working Group and also the schedule of enquiry in its 44th meeting held on 16 January, 1987. In this survey, a nation-wide enquiry was conducted to provide estimates on various characteristics pertaining to employment and unemployment in India and some characteristics associated with them at the national and state levels. Information on various facets of employment and unemployment in India was collected through a schedule of enquiry (schedule 10).

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of Indian Union excepting i) Ladakh and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir ii) Rural areas of Nagaland

Analysis unit

Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

It may be mentioned here that in order to net more households of the upper income bracket in the Sample , significant changes have been made in the sample design in this round (compares to the design of the 38th round).

SAMPLE DESIGN AND SAMPLE SIZE The survey had a two-stage stratified design. The first stage units (f.s.u.'s) are villages in the rural sector and urban blocks in the urban sector. The second stage units are households in both the sectors. Sampling frame for f.s.u.'s : The lists of 1981 census villages constituted the sampling frame for rural sector in most districts. But the 1981 census frame could not be used for a few districts because, either the 1981 census was not held there or the list of 1981 census villages could not be obtained or the lists obtained from the census authorities were found to be grossly incomplete. In such cases 1971 census frame were used. In the urban sector , the Urban Frame Survey (U.F.S.) blocks constituted the sampling frame. STRATIFICATION : States were first divided into agro-economic regions which are groups of contiguous districts , similar with respect to population density and crop pattern. In Gujarat, however , some districts have been split for the purpose of region formation In consideration of the location of dry areas and the distribution of the tribal population in the state. The composition of the regions is given in the Appendix. RURAL SECTOR: In the rural sector, within each region, each district with 1981Census rural population less 1.8 million formed a single stratum. Districts with larger population were divided into two or more strata, depending on population, by grouping contiguous tehsils similar, as for as possible, in respect of rural population Density and crop pattern. (In Gujarat, however , in the case of districts extending over more than one region, even if the rural population was less than 1.8 million, the portion of a district falling in each region constituted a separate stratum. Further ,in Assam the old "basic strata" formed on the basis of 1971 census rural population exactly in the above manner, but with cut-off population as 1.5 million have been retained as the strata for rural sampling.) URBAN SECTOR : In the urban sector , strata were formed , again within NSS region , on the basis of the population size class of towns . Each city with population 10 lakhs or more is self-representative , as in the earlier rounds . For the purpose of stratification, in towns with '81 census population 4 lakhs or more , the blocks have been divided into two categories , viz . : One consisting of blocks in areas inhabited by the relatively affluent section of the population and the other consisting of the remaining blocks. The strata within each region were constituted as follows :

Table (1.2) : Composition of urban strata

Stratum population class of town

number

(1) (2)

1 all towns with population less than 50,000 2 -do- 50,000 - 199,999 3 -do- 200,000 - 399,999 4 -do- 400,000 - 999,999 ( affluent area) 5 (other area) 6 a single city with population 1 million and above (affluent area) 7 " (other area) 8 another city with population 1 million and above

9 " (other area)

Note : There is no region with more than one city with population 1 million and above. The stratum number have been retained as above even if in some regions some of the strata are empty. Allocation for first stage units : The total all-India sample size was allocated to the states /U.T.'s proportionate to the strength of central field staff. This was allocated to the rural and urban sectors considering the relative size of the rural and urban population. Now the rural samples were allocated to the rural strata in proportion to rural population. The urban samples were allocated to the urban strata in proportion to urban population with double weight age given to those strata of towns with population 4 lakhs or more which lie in area inhabited by the relatively affluent section. All allocations have been adjusted such that the sample size for stratum was at least a multiple of 4 (preferably multiple of 8) and the total sample size of a region is a multiple of 8 for the rural and urban sectors separately.
Selection of f.s.u.'s : The sample villages have been selected circular systematically with probability proportional to population in the form of two independent interpenetrating sub-samples (IPNS) . The sample blocks have been selected circular systematically with equal probability , also in the form of two IPNS' s. As regards the rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh, the procedure of 'cluster sampling' was:- The field staff will be supplied with a list of the nucleus villages of each cluster and they selected the remaining villages of the cluster according to the procedure described in Section Two. The nucleus villages were selected circular systematically with equal probability, in the form of two IPNS 's. Hamlet-group and sub-blocks : Large villages and blocks were sub- divided into a suitable number of hamlet-groups and sub-blocks respectively having equal population convent and one them was selected at random for surveys. Hamlet-group and sub-blocks : Large villages and blocks were sub- divided into a suitable number of hamlet-groups and sub-blocks respectively having equal population convent and one them was selected at random for surveys. Selection of households : rural : In order to have adequate number of sample households from the affluent section of the society, some new procedures were introduced for selection of sample households, both in the rural and urban sectors. In the rural sector , while listing households, the investigator identified the households in village/ selected hamlet- group which may be considered to be relatively more affluent than the rest. This was done largely on the basis of his own judgment but while exercising his judgment considered factors generally associated with rich people in the localitysuch as : living in large pucca house in well-maintained state, ownership/possession of cultivated/irrigated land in excess of certain norms. ( e.g.20 acres of cultivated land or 10 acres of irrigated land), ownership of motor vehicles and costly consumer durables like T.V. , VCR, VCP AND refrigerator, ownership of large business establishment , etc. Now these "rich" households will form sub-stratum 1. (If the total number of households listed is 80 or more , 10 relatively most affluent households will form sub-stratum 1. If it is below 80, 8 such households will form sub-stratum 1. The remaining households will 'constitute sub-stratum 2. At the time of listing, information relating to each household' s major sources of income will be collected, on the basis of which its means of livelihood will be identified as one of the following : "self-employed in non-agriculture " "rural labour" and "others" (see section Two for definition of these terms) . Also the area of land possessed as on date of survey will be ascertained from all households while listing. Now the households of sub-stratum 2 will be arranged in the order : (1)self-employed in non-agriculture, (2) rural labour, other households, with land possessed (acres) : (3) less than 1.00 (4) 1.00-2.49,(5)2.50-4.99, (6)

Abstract

The Employment and Unemployment surveys of National sample Survey (NSS) are primary sources of data on various indicators of labour force at National and State levels. These are used for planning, policy formulation, decision support and as input for further statistical exercises by various Government organizations, academicians, researchers and scholars. NSS surveys on employment and un-employment with large sample size of households have been conducted quinquennially from 27th. round(October'1972 - September'1973) onwards. Cotinuing in this series the fifth such all-india survey on the situation of employment and unemployment in India was carried out during the period july 1993 - june 1994 . In this survey, a nation-wide enquiry was conducted to provide estimates on various characteristics pertaining to employment and unemployment in India and some characteristics associated with them at the national and state levels. Information on various facets of employment and unemployment in India was collected through a schedule of enquiry (schedule 10). Apart from the information usually collected in the quinquennial rounds, information on some new items were also collected.

With the experience gained from the past four quinquennial surveys behind, keeping in view the need for further refinements in the concepts and procedures and wider coverage in the light of international practices, certain modifications/ changes were made in this survey the 50th round, without affecting its comparability with the past surveys. These are briefly cited below:

(i) In the past surveys, the current weekly status (CWS) of a person was first assigned on the basis of the response to the questions relating to his participation in gainful activities (non-gainful activities) and thereafter the daily time disposition data was collected only for those in the labour force as per the CWS. In this round,the daily time disposition for all the persons surveyed were collected and the CWS was determined based on the time disposition data so collected, without probing any further on this point.

(ii) Certain probing questions were introduced to all persons who were unemployed on all the days of the days of the reference week. These include educational background of unemployed, spell of unemployment, industry-occupation of the last employment, reason for leaving the employment, etc.

(iii) A set of probing questions were framed to get the profile of the children (5-14 years) particularly their economic activities.

(iv) As information on migration were collected extensively in the 49th round, items relating to migration were not collected in this 50th round.

(v) The probing questions meant for the employed persons according to usual status were modified to obtain a better view of the underemployment situation.

(vi) Hitherto, in NSS, work was identified with the performing of 'gainful activity'. As the international standards use the term 'economic activity' rather than 'gainful activity', the concept of economic activity was introduced in the fiftieth round. However, the coverage of activities under the new term was kept the same as in the earlier surveys, except, for the inclusion of 'own account production of fixed assets' as a work related activity.

(vii) In the NSS quinquennial surveys the identification of usual status involved a trichotomous classification of persons into 'employed', 'unemployed' and 'out of labour force' based on the major time criterion. In this round, the procedure prescribed was a two stage dichotomous procedure which involves a classification into 'labour force' and 'out of labour force' in the first stage and the labour force into 'employed' and 'unemployed' in the second stage.

Work Programme: The survey period of one year was divided into four sub-rounds of three months duration each as below.

sub-round period of survey

1 July-September, 1993 2 October- December, 1993 3 January-March, 1994 4 April-June, 1994

Period of Survey for the Four Sub-Rounds Equal number of sample villages and blocks was allotted for survey in each of these sub--rounds. However in Andaman and Nicobar Islands , Lakshadweep, and rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, the re-striction of surveying the allotted households during the sub-round period was not strictly enforced.The survey used the interview method of data collection from a sample of randomly selected households.

Geographic coverage

The fifth quinquennial survey was conducted during the 50th round survey operations from July 1993 to June, 1994. Generally the NSSO surveys cover the entire country with the exception of certain interior areas of Nagala nd and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. However in this round besides the above, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir out of the 12 Districts, only three Districts could be surveyed. These Districts viz. Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur are however included in the all India estimates..

Analysis unit

Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household

Universe

The survey used the interview method of data collection from a sample of randomly selected households and members of the household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample design adopted for this round of survey was similar to that followed in the past surveys in its general aspects. The ge neral scheme was a two stage stratified design with the first stage units being villages in the rural areas and urban frame survey blocks(UFS) in the urban areas. The second stage units were the households.

Sampling frame for first stage units:

The frame used for selection of first stage units in the rural sector was the 1991 census list of villages for all the four sub-rounds for 8 states/u.t.s viz. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Chandigarh. However for Agra district of U.P. and the three districts, viz.Durg, Sagar, and Morena of M.P., samples were drawn using 1981 census list of villages. For Jammu & Kashmir samples for all the 4 sub-rounds were drawn using the 1981 census list as the 1991 census was not conducted in the st ate. For the remaining 23 states/u.t.s, the frame was 1991 census list for sub-rounds 2 to 4 and 1981 census list for sub-round 1 as the 1991 census list was not available for use at the time of drawing the samples. As usual, for Nagaland the list of villages within 5 kms. of the bus route and for Andaman and Nicobar Islands the list of accessible villages constituted the frame. In the case of urban sector the frame consisted of the UFS blocks and, for some newly declared towns where these were not available, the 1991 census enumeration blocks were used.

Region formation and stratification: States were divided into regions by grouping contiguous districts similar in respect of population density and cropping pattern. In rural sector each district was treated a separate stratum if the population was below 2 million and where it exceeded 2 million, it was split into two or more strata. This cut off point of population was taken as 1.8 million ( in place of 2 million ) for the purpose of stratification for districts for which the 1981 census frame wa s used. In the urban sector, strata were formed, within each NSS region on the basis of population size class of towns. However for towns with population of 4 lakhs or more the urban blocks were divided into two classes viz. one consisting of blocks inhabited by affluent section of the population and the other consisting of the remaining blocks.

Selection of first stage units :

Selection of sample villages was done circular systematically with probability proportional to population and sample blocks circular system-atically with equal probability. Both the sample villages and the sample blocks were selected in the form of two or more independent sub-samples. In Arunachal Pradesh the procedure of cluster sampling has been followed. Further large villages/blocks having present population of 1200 or more were divided into a suitable number of hamlet- groups/ sub-blocks having equal population content. Two hamlet- groups were selected from the larger villages while one sub-block was selected in urban sector for larger blocks.

Selection of households :

While listing the households in the selected villages, certain relatively affluent households were identified and considered as second stage stratum 1 and the rest as second stage stratum 2. A total of 10 households were surveyed from the selected village/hamlet-groups, 2 from the fi rst category and remaining from the second. Further in the second stage stratum-2, the households were arranged according to the means of livelihood. The means of livelihood were identified on the basis of the major source of income as i) self-employed in non-agricultu re, ii) rural labour and iii) others. The land possessed by the households was also ascertained and the frame for selection was arranged on the basis of this information. The households were selected circular systematically from both the second stage strata.

In the urban blocks a different method was used for arranging the households for selection. This involved the identification means of livelihood of households as any one of a) self-employed, b)regular salaried/wage earnings, c) casual labour, d) others. Further the average household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (mpce) was also ascertained. All households with MPCE of (i) Rs. 1200/- or more (in towns with population less than 10 lakhs or (ii) Rs. 1500/- or more (in towns with population 10 lakh or more)

Abstract

The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) has been carrying out All-India surveys quinquennially on consumer expenditure and employment - unemployment. The 50th round (July 1993 - June 1994) was the Fifth quinquennial survey on Consumer Expenditure and Employment - Unemployment. The previous four quinquennial surveys were the 27th (Oct. 1972 - Sept. 1973), the 32nd (Jul.1977 - Jun. 1978), the 38th ( Jan. - Dec. 1983) and 43rd (Jul. 1987 - Jun. 1988) rounds. In other rounds of NSS, also, a consumer expenditure inquiry on a limited scale was being carried out from the 42nd round (1986-87) onwards. From the 45th round onwards the subject coverage of this schedule has been expanded to include some important questions on employment so that an annual series of consumer expenditure and employment data is now available. While some of these smaller-scale surveys are spread over a full year and others over six months only, the quinquennial (full-scale) surveys have all been of a full year's duration. Household consumer expenditure is measured as the expenditure incurred by a household on domestic account during a specified period, called reference period. It includes the imputed values of goods and services, which are not purchased but procured otherwise for consumption. In other words, it is the sum total of monetary values of all the items (i.e. goods and services) consumed by the household on domestic account during the reference period. The imputed rent of owner-occupied houses is excluded from consumption expenditure. Any expenditure incurred towards the productive enterprises of the households is also excluded from household consumer expenditure. The household consumer expenditure schedule used for the survey collected information on quantity and value of household consumption with a reference period of "last 30 days" for some items of consumption and "last 365 days" for some less frequently purchased items. To minimise recall errors, a very detailed item classification was, as usual, adopted to collect information, including 148 items of food, 13 items of fuel, 28 items of clothing, bedding and footwear, 18 items of educational and medical expenses, 52 items of durable goods, and about 85 other items. The schedule also collected some other household particulars including age, sex and educational level etc. of each household member.

The schedule design for the survey was more or less similar to that adopted in the previous quinquennial round. The field work for the survey was conducted, as usual, by the Field Operations Division of the Organisation. The collected data were processed by the Data Processing Division of NSSO and tabulated by the Computer Centre of Department of Statistics. The reports have been prepared by Survey Design & Research Division (SDRD) of NSSO under the guidance of the Governing Council, NSSO.

Geographic coverage

The survey period of the 50th round was from July 1993 to June 1994. The geographical coverage of the survey was to be the whole of the Indian Union except Ladakh and Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir, 768 interior villages of Nagaland and 172 villages in Andaman & Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year. However, certain districts of Jammu & Kashmir viz., Doda, Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Badgam, Baramula and Kupwara, and Punjab's Amritsar district, had to be excluded from the survey due to unfavourable field conditions.

Analysis unit

Randomly selected households based on sampling procedure and members of the household

Universe

The survey used the interview method of data collection from a sample of randomly selected households and members of the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample design adopted for this round of survey was similar to that followed in the past surveys in its general aspects. The general scheme was a two stage stratified design with the first stage units being villages in the rural areas and urban frame survey blocks (UFS) in the urban areas. The second stage units were the households.

Sampling frame for first stage units: The latest available lists of census villages (which are mostly the 1981 census lists) constitute the sampling frame for the rural sector. For Nagaland, the villages located within 5kms of a bus route constitute the sampling frame whereas, for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the list of accessible villages constituted the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the lists of NSSO Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks have been considered as the sampling frame. However, for some of the newly declared towns of 1991 census for which UFS frame has not been received, the lists of 1991 census EBs have been considered as the sampling frame.

Region formation and stratification: States were divided into regions by grouping contiguous districts similar in respect of population density and cropping pattern. In rural sector each district was treated a separate stratum if the population was below 2 million and where it exceeded 2 million, it was split into two or more strata. This cut off point of population was taken as 1.8 million ( in place of 2 million ) for the purpose of stratification for districts for which the 1981 census frame was used. In the urban sector, strata were formed, within each NSS region on the basis of population size class of towns. However, for towns with population of 4 lakhs or more the urban blocks were divided into two classes viz. one consisting of blocks inhabited by affluent section of the population and the other consisting of the remaining blocks.

Selection of first stage units : Selection of sample villages was done circular systematically with probability proportional to population and sample blocks circular systematically with equal probability. Both the sample villages and the sample blocks were selected in the form of two or more independent sub-samples. In Arunachal Pradesh the procedure of cluster sampling has been followed. Further large villages/blocks having present population of 1200 or more were divided into a suitable number of hamlet- groups/ sub-blocks having equal population content. Two hamlet- groups were selected from the larger villages while one sub-block was selected in urban sector for larger blocks.

Selection of households : While listing the households in the selected villages, certain relatively affluent households were identified and considered as second stage stratum 1 and the rest as second stage stratum 2.

A total of 10 households were surveyed from the selected village/hamlet-groups, 2 from the first category and remaining from the second.Further in the second stage stratum-2, the households were arranged according to the means of livelihood. The means of livelihood were identified on the basis of the major source of income as i) self-employed in non-agriculture, ii) rural labour and iii) others. The land possessed by the households was also ascertained and the frame for selection was arranged on the basis of this information. The households were selected circular systematically from both the second stage strata.

In the urban blocks a different method was used for arranging the households for selection. This involved the identification means of livelihood of households as any one of a) self-employed, b) regular salaried/wage earnings, c) casual labour, d) others. Further the average household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (mpce) was also ascertained. All households with MPCE of (i) Rs. 1200/- or more (in towns with population less than 10 lakhs or (ii) Rs. 1500/- or more (in towns with population 10 lakh or more) formed second-stage stratum 1 and the rest, second-stage stratum 2.The households of second-stage stratum 2 were arranged according to means of livelihood class and MPCE ranges before selection of sample households. A total of 10 households were selected from each sample block as follows (i) For affluent strata/classes : 4 households from second- stage stratum 1 and 6 households from second-stage stratum 2 (ii) For other strata/classes : 2 households from second-stage stratum 1 and 8 from second-stage stratum 2. Households were then selected circular systematically with a random start.

Shortfall in the required number of household in any second-stage stratum was made up by increasing the quota for the other second stage stratum.

A total of 7284 sample villages (Rural) and 4792 sample blocks (Urban) were allotted in central sample. 6983 sample villages and 470 sample blocks were successfully surveyed covering 356351 persons in sample villages and 208389 persons in sample blocks.

Sampling deviation

There was no deviation from the original sampling design.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]