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.Since then, the four successive quinquennial surveys conducted in 32nd, 38th, 43rd and 50th rounds have, more or less, followed an identical approach in the measurement of employment and unemployment. The basic approach in all these four quinquennial surveys have been the collection of data to generate the estimates of employment and unemployment according to the 'usual status' based on a reference period of one year, the 'current weekly status' based on a reference period of one week, and the 'current daily status' based on each day of the previous week. In order to reveal the multi-dimensional aspects of the employment-unemployment situation in India, information on several correlates were also gathered in these surveys. Sets of probing questions on some of these aspects have also been one of the basic features of these surveys.

A Working Group was set up for the purpose of finalising the survey methodology and schedules of enquiry of the 55th round. Considering all the aspects of current data demand and usefulness of the survey results, the Group has suggested a few improvisations, additions and deletions in the content of the schedule of enquiry for the present survey. The major changes made in the schedule for employment and unemployment survey vis-à-vis the previous quinquennial survey are given below:

a) Instead of recording the details for one subsidiary usual economic activity of all the members of the household, the details of two subsidiary usual economic activities pursued for relatively more time were be recorded.

b) Certain probing questions to identify the employment in the unincorporated enterprises (i.e., the proprietary and partnership enterprises other than those covered under Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)) will be asked to the workers according to usual principal as well as subsidiary statuses. This apart, information to identify 'homeworkers' were collected in this round.

c) In addition to the information on the changes undergone in industry and/or occupation of the usually employed persons during last 2 years, provisions were made to record changes in the status of work as well as the establishment of work during the same reference period. In all such cases where changes in any of these would be reported, the previous position obtaining for the person in that regard were ascertained.

d) Migration particulars of each of the members of the sample household were collected, as was done in the fourth quinquennial survey (NSS 43rd round).

e) Probing questions, framed to get data on participation of persons in specified household chores, were put only to females instead of all persons usually engaged in household chores.

f) The schedules on Employment - Unemployment and Consumer Expenditure are to be canvassed in independent sets of households. Since the monthly per capita expenditure of a household is an important classificatory variable for the study of employment- unemployment, household expenditure on broad groups of items were recorded so as to work out monthly per capita expenditure of the household.

g) A sub-sample of FSUs were repeated in two consecutive sub-rounds. The households selected and surveyed in a sub-round were re-visited in the next sub-round for collection of data on employment and unemployment only. The newly formed households, if found, during the second visit to the FSU constituted second-stage stratum 9 and a sample of households were selected from them for canvassing Schedule 10 (and not Schedule 10.1).

h) All the items of information contained in Schedule 10 were not be collected in the second visit. A separate Schedule 10.1 was designed (retaining few blocks of Schedule 10) and used for data collection in the second visit. It is important to note that for the items retained in Schedule 10.1, the reference of block, item or column (i.e., block no., item no. and column no.) were the same as those of Schedule 10 meant for first visit, unless otherwise specifically mentioned. the same concepts, definitions and procedures were followed for collection of data in the second visit.

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, 1999 2 October- December, 1999 3 January-March, 2000 4 April-June, 2000

Equal number of sample fsu's were allotted for survey in each of these four sub-rounds. Each fsu was surveyed during the sub-round period to which it was allotted. Within a particular sub-round, efforts were made to spread out the field work of various fsu's uniformly over different weeks/months to the extent possible..Fifty per cent of the sample fsu's of each sub-round were be revisitd again (only for the central sample) in the subsequent sub-round and collected employment-unemployment details from the sample households who were visited during the previous sub-round. In such cases efforts were made to revisit the fsu just after 3 months.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union excepting (i) Ladakh & Kargil districts of Jammu & Kashmir, (ii) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond 5 kms. of a bus route & (iii) villages of Andaman & Nicobar Islands remaining inaccessible throughout the year. All the villages of the country, uninhabited according to 1991 census, were also left out of the survey coverage of the NSS 55th round.

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

One salient feature of the 55th round is that the rotation sampling scheme has been adopted for the first time in the NSS (central sample only) for the purpose of collection of employment-unemployment data. Under this scheme, 50 per cent of the sample first stage units (fsu's) of each sub-round will be revisited in the subsequent sub-round. From each such fsu, sample households visited in the previous sub-round for collecting data on employment-unemployment will be revisited in the subsequent sub-round for collecting employment-unemployment details. In addition, for the purpose of collecting employment-unemployment data, a thin sample of 2 households will be selected during the revisit from the frame of newly formed households in the fsu. It may be noted that the above scheme of rotation sampling scheme for collecting employment-unemployment data will be followed only for the fsu's belonging to the central sample. For state samples, the fsu's are to be visited only once as they appear in the sample list for canvassing various schedules in the selected households/enterprises.

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

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 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. The NSS 68th. round carried out during July'2011 - June'2012 was the nineth quinquennial round in the series covering subjects of (i) Household Consumer Expenditure and (ii) Employment and Unemployment.

Field work of the survey is carried out by the Field Operation Division ( FOD ) of National Sample Survey Office ( NSSO ) in which the central samples are covered. most of the State Governments also participate in the survey on matching sample size basis.

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) during the period July 2011 - June 2012 carried out an all-India household survey on the subject of employment and unemployment in India as a part of 68th round of its survey programme. In this survey, the nation-wide enquiry was conducted to generate estimates of various characteristics pertaining to employment and unemployment and labour force characteristics 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) adopting the established concepts, definitions and procedures. Based on the data collected during the entire period of survey, estimates of some key employment-unemployment characteristics in India and States have been presented in the NSSO published report on Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment July'2011 - June'2012 ( 68th Round).

The main objective of the employment-unemployment surveys conducted by NSSO at periodic interval is to get estimates of level parameters of various employment and unemployment characteristics at national and State level. These statistical indicators on labour market are required for planning, policy and decision making at various levels, both within the government and outside. The critical issues in the context of labour force enquiries pertain to defining the labour force and measuring participation of labour force in different economic activities. The activity participation of the people is not only dynamic but also multidimensional: it varies with region, age, education, gender, level of living, industry and occupational category. These aspects of the labour force are captured in detail in the NSS survey on employment and unemployment and estimates are generated for labour force participation rate, worker population ratio, unemployment rate, wages of employees, etc. The indicators of the structural aspects of the workforce such as status in employment, industrial distribution and occupational distribution are also derived from the survey. Besides, from the data collected on the particulars of enterprises and conditions of employment, the aspects of employment in the informal sector and informal employment are reflected through the conceptual framework of the survey.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remained inaccessible throughout the year.

Analysis unit

Households and Persons

Universe

Households and members of the household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 68th round (July 2011-June 2012) of NSS was earmarked for survey on 'Household Consumer Expenditure' and 'Employment and Unemployment'. The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year. In addition to these, all the sample first stage units of the following areas were casualty in different sub-rounds: in sub-rounds 1, 2,3 and 4. In each of these four sub-rounds equal number of sample villages/ blocks (FSUs) was allotted for survey with a view to ensuring uniform spread of sample FSUs over the entire survey period. Attempt was made to survey each of the FSUs during the sub-round to which it is allotted. Because of the arduous field conditions, this restriction need not be strictly enforced in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Sample Design A stratified multi-stage design has been adopted for the 68th round survey. The first stage units (FSU) was the 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) in the rural sector and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. The ultimate stage units (USU) was households in both the sectors. In case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling was the selection of two hamlet-groups (hgs)/ sub-blocks (sbs) from each rural/ urban FSU.

Selection of the first-stage units: The various steps involved before making the selection of the FSUs are discussed at length in the following few paragraphs before taking up the issue of selection of USUs within FSUs.

Sampling Frame for First Stage Units: For the rural sector, the list of 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) constituted the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of latest available UFS blocks constituted the sampling frame.

Stratification of the first stage units: Within each district of a State/ UT, two basic strata were formed as follows: Within each sector of a State/ UT, the respective sample size will be allocated to the different strata/ sub-strata in proportion to the population as per census 2001. Allocations at stratum level were adjusted to multiples of 4 with a minimum sample size of 4. Allocation for each sub-stratum was 4. Equal number of samples were allocated among the four sub-rounds.

Selection of first-stage units: For the rural sector, from each stratum/ sub-stratum, required number of sample villages were selected by probability proportional to size with replacement (PPSWR), size being the population of the village as per Census 2001. For urban sector, from each stratum FSUs were selected by using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR). Both rural and urban samples were drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples.

Selection of Ultimate Stage Units (USU) within a FSU: The remaining paragraphs of this sub-section outlines the various steps leading to the actual selection of USUs within a FSU.

Criterion for hamlet-group/ sub-block formation: After identification of the boundaries of the FSU, it is to be determined whether listing was done in the whole sample FSU or not. In case the population of the selected FSU is found to be 1200 or more, it should be divided into a suitable number (say, D) of 'hamlet-groups' in the rural sector and 'sub-blocks' in the urban sector by more or less equalising the population as stated below.

approximate present population of the sample FSU no. of hg's/sb's to be formed

less than 1200 (no hamlet-groups/sub-blocks) 1
1200 to 1799 3
1800 to 2399 4
2400 to 2999 5
3000 to 3599 6
…………..and so on

For rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand (except four districts Dehradun (P), Nainital (P), Hardwar and Udham Singh Nagar), Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Doda, Leh (Ladakh), Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir and Idukki district of Kerala, the number of hamlet-groups were formed as follows:

approximate present population of the sample village no. of hg's to be formed

less than 600 (no hamlet-groups) 1 600 to 899 3 900 to 1199 4 1200 to 1499 5 .………..and so on

Formation and selection of hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks: In case hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks are to be formed in the sample FSU, the same should be done by more or less equalizing population.It was ensured that the hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks formed were clearly identifiable in terms of physical landmarks.

Two hamlet-groups (hg)/ sub-blocks (sb) were selected from a large FSU wherever hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks have been formed in the following manner - one hg/ sb with maximum percentage share of population always selected and termed as hg/ sb 1; one more hg/ sb selected from the remaining hg's/ sb's by simple random sampling (SRS) and termed as hg/ sb 2. Listing and selection of the households done independently in the two selected hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks. The FSUs without hg/ sb formation treated as sample hg/ sb number 1. It is to be noted that if more than one hg/ sb have same maximum percentage share of population, the one among them which is listed first in block 4.2 of schedule 0.0 treated as hg/ sb 1.

Listing of households: Having determined the hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks, i.e. area(s) to be considered for listing, the next step is to list all the households (including those found to be temporarily locked after ascertaining the temporariness of locking of households through

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. The NSS 66th. round carried out during July'2009 - June'2010 was the eighth quinquennial round in the series covering subjects of (i) Household Consumer Expenditure and (ii) Employment and Unemployment.

Field work of the survey is carried out by the Field Operation Division ( FOD ) of National Sample Survey Office ( NSSO ) in which the central samples are covered. most of the State Governments also participate in the survey on matching sample size basis.

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) during the period July 2009 - June 2010 carried out an all-India household survey on the subject of employment and unemployment in India as a part of 66th round of its survey programme. In this survey, the nation-wide enquiry was conducted to generate estimates of various characteristics pertaining to employment and unemployment and labour force characteristics 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) adopting the established concepts, definitions and procedures. Based on the data collected during the entire period of survey, estimates of some key employment-unemployment characteristics in India and States have been presented in the NSSO published report number NSS KI (66/10) on Key Indicators of Employment and Unemployment July'2009 - June'2010 ( 66th Round).

The main objective of the employment-unemployment surveys conducted by NSSO at periodic interval is to get estimates of level parameters of various employment and unemployment characteristics at national and State level. These statistical indicators on labour market are required for planning, policy and decision making at various levels, both within the government and outside. The critical issues in the context of labour force enquiries pertain to defining the labour force and measuring participation of labour force in different economic activities. The activity participation of the people is not only dynamic but also multidimensional: it varies with region, age, education, gender, level of living, industry and occupational category. These aspects of the labour force are captured in detail in the NSS survey on employment and unemployment and estimates are generated for labour force participation rate, worker population ratio, unemployment rate, wages of employees, etc. The indicators of the structural aspects of the workforce such as status in employment, industrial distribution and occupational distribution are also derived from the survey. Besides, from the data collected on the particulars of enterprises and conditions of employment, the aspects of employment in the informal sector and informal employment are reflected through the conceptual framework of the survey.

Geographic coverage

The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remained inaccessible throughout the year. However, all the sample first stage units of both rural and urban areas of Leh, Kargil and Poonch districts of Jammu & Kashmir became casualty and therefore these districts were outside the survey coverage.

Analysis unit

Households and persons

Universe

Households and members of the household

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 66th round (July 2009-June 2010) of NSS was earmarked for survey on 'Household Consumer Expenditure' and 'Employment and Unemployment'. The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year. All the sample first stage units of both rural and urban areas of Leh, Kargil and Poonch districts of Jammu & Kashmir became casualty and therefore these districts were outside the survey coverage. In addition to these, all the sample first stage units of the following areas were casualty in different sub-rounds: (i) in sub-rounds 1, 2, and 4, both rural and urban areas of Rajouri district of Jammu & Kashmir, (ii) in sub-round 2, urban areas of Lakhisarai district of Bihar, (iii) in sub-round 3, rural areas of Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir. The estimates of the different sub-rounds, therefore, excluded these areas. The period of survey was of one year duration starting on 1st July 2009 and ending on 30th June 2010. The survey period of this round was divided into four sub-rounds of three months' duration each, the 1st sub-round period ranging from July to September 2009, the 2nd sub-round period from October to December 2009 and so on. In each of these four sub-rounds equal number of sample villages/ blocks (FSUs) were allotted for survey with a view to ensuring uniform spread of sample FSUs over the entire survey period. Sample Design A stratified multi-stage design was adopted for the 66th round survey. The first stage units (FSU) were the 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) in the rural sector and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. In addition, two non-UFS towns of Leh and Kargil of Jammu & Kashmir were also treated as FSUs in the urban sector. The ultimate stage units (USU) were households in both the sectors. Hamlet-groups/sub-blocks constituted the intermediate stage whenever these were formed in the sample FSUs.

Selection of the first-stage units: The various steps involved before making the selection of the FSUs are discussed at length in the following few paragraphs before taking up the issue of selection of USUs within FSUs.

Sampling Frame for First Stage Units: For the rural sector, the list of 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) constituted the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of latest available UFS blocks constituted the sampling frame. For non-UFS towns, frame consisted of the individual towns (only two towns, viz., Leh & Kargil constituted this frame).

Stratification of the first stage units: Within each district of a State/ UT, two basic strata were formed as follows: i) rural stratum comprising of all rural areas of the district and (ii) urban stratum comprising of all the urban areas of the district.

However, within the urban areas of a district, if there were one or more towns with population 10 lakhs or more as per population census 2001 in a district, each of them formed a separate basic stratum and the remaining urban areas of the district were considered as another basic stratum.

Sub-stratification: There was no sub-stratification in the urban sector. However, to net adequate number of child workers, for all rural strata, each stratum was divided into 2 sub-strata as follows:

sub-stratum 1: all villages with proportion of child workers (p) >2P (where P is the average proportion of child workers for the sate/ UT as per Census 2001)

sub-stratum 2: remaining villages

Allocation of FSU's among Strata: At the all-India level, a total number of 12784 FSUs were allocated for survey in the central sample. In addition, 24 State sample FSUs (16 for rural sector and 8 for urban sector) of Leh and Kargil districts of J & K were included in the central sample. The total number of sample FSUs was allocated to the States and UTs in proportion to population as per census 2001 subject to the availability of investigators and ensuring minimum sample allocation to each State/ UT. The State/ UT level sample size was allocated between two sectors in proportion to population as per census 2001 with double weightage to urban sector subject to the restriction that urban sample size for bigger states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, etc. did not exceed the rural sample size. A minimum of 16 FSUs (to the extent possible) was allocated to each state/ UT separately for rural and urban areas. Further the State level allocations for both rural and urban areas were adjusted marginally in a few cases to ensure that each stratum/ sub-stratum got a minimum allocation of 4 FSUs. Within each sector of a State/UT, the respective sample size was allocated to the different strata/ sub-strata in proportion to the population as per census 2001. Allocations at stratum/ sub-stratum level were adjusted to multiples of 4 with a minimum sample size of 4 and equal number of samples was allocated among the four sub rounds.

Selection of first-stage units: For the rural sector, from each stratum/ sub-stratum, required number of sample villages were selected by probability proportional to size with replacement (PPSWR), size being the population of the village as per Census 2001. For urban sector, from each stratum FSUs were selected by using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR). Both rural and urban samples were drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples.

Selection of Ultimate Stage Units (USU) within a FSU: The remaining paragraphs of this sub-section outlines the various steps leading to the actual selection of USUs within a FSU.

Selection of hamlet-groups/sub-blocks: Selected FSUs with approximate population 1200 or more were divided into a suitable number (say, D) of 'hamlet-groups' in