NSS: Not just nerdy stats but a data arsenal for business and policy

When strategy oregon selling teams deliberation astir however champion to scope the Indian consumer, the large question is which portion should beryllium looked at? Panchayat, city, constituency, territory oregon state? The aforesaid question arises erstwhile we program for concern allocations oregon make programme budgets. The reply often is simply a antagonistic question: What bash we person information for?

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I reason that the NSS determination framework, arsenic defined by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)—which divides India into 85 regions—offers a precise utile lens for some concern strategy and argumentation planning.

I bring this up successful the discourse of the commencement day of P.C. Mahalanobis, 29 June, besides celebrated arsenic ‘Statistics Day’ successful India.

The National Sample Survey (NSS), which was established successful 1950 nether his pioneering leadership, was intended to beryllium a bid of sprawling nationwide surveys designed to seizure accusation connected each aspects of the economical beingness of citizens. Over the years, it has provided elaborate information connected assorted economic, societal and demographic indicators crossed India’s galore regions.

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The NSSO, for the intent of its all-India surveys, divides each authorities into regions, each of which is simply a radical of districts. As a result, the 28 states of India are subdivided into 85 regions.

How galore radical really cognize astir the NSS?: While everyone knows astir the Census, the NSS seems to beryllium mostly mentioned lone successful circles of statisticians and researchers, and we perceive of it erstwhile reports are released oregon erstwhile the veracity of nationalist data-sets is questioned.

More than the information itself, fto maine gully attraction to the NSS portion model that seldom gets discussed. Since 1950, adept statisticians astatine the NSSO—now a portion of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation—have worked to get astatine a acceptable of regions based connected homogeneity related to agro-climatic conditions, demography, geographical contiguity, etc. This not lone provides a meaningful sampling framework for the intent of surveys, but tin beryllium considered for wider usage to recognize however Indian economical and societal beingness is organized.. Which begs the question that erstwhile truthful overmuch thought (and investment) has gone into processing this, wherefore is it relegated purely to the realm of statistic and reports?

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Let’s marque the champion usage of what NSS has to offer: I suggest that we widen the exertion of the NSS model and actively usage it for concern growth, strategical readying and authorities policies.

Let maine dispel the conception that NSS is for geeks. For example, businesses should see organizing income teams with the NSS lens and carrying retired reviews astatine that level (a scientifically defined clump of districts), particularly for products and services that person important user penetration astatine the sub-state level. Companies similar Unilever and different FMCG majors person benefited from designing robust determination strategies based connected slicing the marketplace successful ways that thrust income successful a much focused manner. Not each company, however, whitethorn person the resources to put successful this inhouse.

Of course, the NSS attack is not the lone signifier of classifying regions, but it does stay a well-developed framework that is disposable for wider use.

Similarly, strategy teams—at large businesses and caller ventures alike—can payment from analysing the economical imaginable of these regions and investigating which ones are amended suited arsenic markets, earthy worldly sources oregon avenues for maturation and investment, and accordingly program wherever to acceptable up organisation channels, their adjacent factory, etc, and formulate region-specific strategies.

Madhya Pradesh, for instance, is divided into 7 NSS regions, Assam into 4 and Punjab into two, with each portion bearing chiseled features and its depletion expenditure patterns mapped out.

The NSS is versatile: From a authorities constituent of view, having states leverage the NSS lens to place determination strengths volition beryllium applicable to travel up with structural incentives and fiscal allocations tailor-made for circumstantial regions wrong states, an attack that tin adhd to some output and jobs. This besides applies to philanthropies, civilian nine and anyone other moving connected grassroot improvement and work delivery. Designing and fine-tuning outreach efforts with the assistance of an NSS lens tin connection a targeted attack that talks to the needs, aspirations and strengths of the locality and its people.

Steps tin beryllium taken to place regions and clusters successful request of focused attraction to fortify wellness and acquisition access, for example, oregon bring down multidimensional poverty.

If we look astatine the information itself oregon the accusation architecture, periodic NSS surveys supply region-wise estimates of poverty, employment, depletion and expenditure, to notation conscionable a fewer indicators. There person of people been debates, but governmental volition indispensable articulation forces with measures to guarantee the timely availability of unit-level information with applicable aggregates to alteration not lone academic, but besides private-sector use.

Also, each different data-sets astatine sub-state level, whether generated by the authorities oregon by companies similar Ola, Oyo, Swiggy, etc, should get aggregated astatine the NSS level and person NSS portion markers. There are galore known challenges successful triangulating dispersed information. In fact, the designated NSS codification should beryllium made mandatory for each sub-state data-sets collected by immoderate agency, nationalist oregon private.

Layering this with the India stack and besides newer data-sets similar the GST network’s oregon outer imagery tin springiness america localized insights, but astatine a manageable level of aggregation.

India’s 28 states are excessively ample and districts are excessively galore (806 astatine past count). This NSS acceptable of 85 regions whitethorn not beryllium perfect, but are applicable and typical for planning, governance, reappraisal and action.

Today’s India has overmuch to convey Mahalanobis for, a statistician fondly remembered arsenic ‘The Professor.’ Keeping his bequest live means not conscionable celebrating his enactment and the institutions helium created, but besides reimagining however indispensable gathering blocks similar the NSS determination framework tin beryllium applied further.

I americium cognizant of the challenges involved, but would reason that portion we follow newer tools and fortify our integer nationalist infrastructure, we tin further accelerate this process by adapting, investing successful and gathering connected well-researched information frames that are (in a sense) nationalist goods that beryllium but prevarication under-utilized. The contented of this large man—as it should beryllium for us—lay successful realizing that acquiring robust nationalist statistic is not an extremity successful itself, but a conveyance to alteration proactive readying not conscionable crossed governments astatine the cardinal and authorities levels, but societal enterprises and businesses arsenic well.

The writer is an interaction advisor, erstwhile manager Tata Trusts and writer of ‘Regional Economic Diversity: Lessons from an Emergent India’