New Delhi: India has begun integrating synthetic intelligence (AI) and machine studying (ML) into nationwide surveys to enhance knowledge accuracy, timeliness, and area responsiveness, Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state (Impartial Cost) for the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Planning (MoSPI), stated Wednesday.
In a written response to the Lok Sabha, Singh stated AI and ML at the moment are being utilized in enterprise-level surveys such because the Capital Expenditure (Capex) survey and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), serving to officers resolve field-level queries in actual time.
The initiative is a part of a broader effort to make India’s statistical structure extra agile and aligned with evolving financial and social situations.
Because the financial system grows extra advanced, Singh stated, modernizing conventional knowledge methods is important to capturing rising developments and enabling well timed coverage choices. The adoption of digital instruments—together with automation and AI—not solely improves pace and accuracy but in addition shortens the time lag in publishing important statistics.
“The first knowledge assortment in all surveys is being executed in a digital platform utilizing Pc Assisted Private Interview (CAPI) or web-based software with an in-built validation mechanism to make sure consistency on the stage of knowledge assortment,” Singh stated.
“This facilitates real-time submission and validation of survey knowledge and has resulted in a drastic discount within the time lag in releasing survey stories,” he added.
Singh additionally famous that the ministry has rolled out short-duration, modular surveys in sectors akin to telecom and training, aimed toward assembly the rising demand for high-frequency, sector-specific socio-economic indicators.
MoSPI performs a central function in guiding India’s data-driven coverage initiatives via a collection of nationwide surveys. Amongst them are the Periodic Labour Power Survey (PLFS), which tracks employment developments; the Shopper Expenditure Survey (CES), which informs welfare and subsidy insurance policies by detailing family spending patterns; and the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), which displays industrial output and construction. The ASUSE, in the meantime, supplies a window into India’s casual financial system.
In a separate response, Singh stated the federal government can be working to increase the attain and granularity of those surveys by involving states and union territories extra deeply within the course of. Starting January 2025, the sampling design of most ongoing surveys has been revised to generate district-level estimates, with every district now handled as a fundamental stratum, he stated.
The transfer aligns with the Centre’s broader agenda on knowledge reform. Within the Union Funds 2024-25, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted efforts to strengthen knowledge governance and modernize knowledge methods below India’s next-generation coverage framework.
The federal government additionally plans to streamline knowledge assortment, processing, and administration by leveraging sectoral databases developed via the Digital India Mission.
