(a) Whether the Government has made any new changes in GDP measurement standards;
(b) If so, the details of changes made previously by the Government in last year’s GDP statistics;
(c) Whether the Government is working on new poverty estimates in the country; and
(d) If so, the details thereof along with previous poverty estimate details done by expert committees, committee-wise and if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF STATISTICS & PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)
(a): Yes, Madam.
(b): Changes have been made in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurement standards to make them better compliant with the latest United Nation’s guidelines in System of National Accounts, 2008. They include:
(i) revising base year of national accounts from 2004-05 to 2011-12 to take into account the changing structure of the economy;
(ii) using corporate sector data of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as a new source of data for corporate entities in mining, manufacturing and services sectors;
(iii) using latest available data of the National Sample Survey Office including data of Unincorporated Enterprise Survey (2010-11) and Employment-Unemployment Survey (2011-12) and data on sales and service taxes; and
(iv) improving coverage of activities in respect of local bodies and autonomous institutions.
(c) & (d): As per the report received from NITI Aayog, the official poverty estimates are based on the data of large sample surveys on household consumer expenditure conducted by National Sample Survey Office, the latest being the survey on household consumer expenditure conducted in 2011-12. At present, the official poverty line remains the Tendulkar line at which the existing estimates relating to 2011-12 have been computed and released through a Press Note issued on 22nd July 2013. Since no further survey on household consumer expenditure was carried out subsequently, no new poverty estimates are possible unless there is a change in the official poverty line.
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