NITI's Panagariya makes presentation to PMO for reliable jobs data

Task force on employment data may recommend a complete revamp of country's data collection system

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, who heads the task force on employment data, has made a presentation to this effect before the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The PMO last month had constituted the task force to come up with solutions to have timely and reliable job data for policymaking.

"The task force has had four meetings since it was constituted (May 9, 2017) and the vice-chairman of the Niti Aayog, who is heading it, made a presentation before the PMO on June 20," a senior government official said.

Yesterday, Panagariya had said the task force on employment data was likely to recommend a complete revamp of the country's data collection system.

"We are going to recommend actually a full revamp (of data collection). We need to have more frequent household surveys, which will be at least annual, possibly some quarterly element to it," Panagariya had suggested.

He also called for establishment or enterprise surveys to be conducted annually.

"And I think the possibilities of doing this in the next 2-3 years are all in place," Panagariya noted.