NSSO's 'traditional' couples

National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data occasionally throws up odd findings but sometimes, the assumptions on which the data is processed are equally unusual. A case in point can be found in the recently released 69th round of survey on "drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and housing conditions in India". One section talks about how only around 60 per cent of married couples in India had a room to themselves in their houses in 2012. The interesting point was the survey's definition of a "couple". The report states, "In this survey, a man with two wives in a household constituted two married couples but one woman with two husbands in a household formed a single couple." Asked about the distinction, an NSSO official could only say this assumption was part of the organisation's "tradition".