Events Launch of Book on Evolution of the NSS by Dr G.C. Manna, Senior Adviser, NCAER and Former Director-General, CSO and NSSO
NCAER and the Institute for Human Development (IHD) jointly organised a book launch event on June 30, 2025, at the India International Centre, New Delhi, to release a book “75 Years of the Indian National Sample Survey: Evolution of Sample Design, Key Challenges and Way Forward“, authored by Dr G.C. Manna, Senior Adviser at NCAER and visiting Professor at IHD. Dr Manna is the former Director-General of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
The book, published by Springer Nature, provides an overview of the Indian National Sample Survey (NSS), which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. It summarises the key features of the survey methodology, highlights the strengths and limitations of the data collected through the NSS, and outlines the way forward to address critical data gaps for strengthening the NSS database. The book also highlights some global / best survey practices. The book is truly meant to be used as a reference material by the survey practitioners across the globe. In addition, it will be of interest to a variety of other readers, including students, researchers, planners, and policymakers.
More details available here: About the Book
The book was launched with welcome remarks by Dr Anil K. Sharma, Secretary and Operations Director, NCAER; Professor Alakh Sharma, Director, IHD; and, Mr. William Achauer, Editorial Director, Business Economics Programme for Asia-Pacific Region, Springer Nature.
The launch of the book was followed by a Panel Discussion on “Strengthening National Sample Survey: Experiences and Future Perspectives”, chaired by Professor S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The panellists included Dr Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India; Professor T.C.A. Anant, Visiting Professor, IHD, and former Chief Statistician of India; Dr Sudipto Mundle, Non-resident Senior Fellow at NCAER and Chairman, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram; and, Dr Radhicka Kapoor, Senior Employment Specialist for South Asia, International Labour Organization.
