NSS was established in 1950 by P.C. Mahalanobis to collect economic and social information from the whole country on the basis of random sampling.

About NSS

• Ministry: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• Headed by a Director General: Responsible for conduct of large scale sample surveys on All India basis.
• Coverage:
  • Household surveys on socio-economic subjects: E.g. surveys on population, birth, death, migration, fertility, family planning etc.
  • Surveys on land holding, livestock and agriculture.
  • Establishment surveys and enterprise surveys: E.g. non-agricultural enterprises in unorganized sector and collection of rural retail prices in rural areas.
  • Village surveys: Formation on availability of infrastructure facilities in Indian villages.
• Four Divisions of NSS:
  • Survey Design and Research Division (SDRD): Located at Kolkata, it is responsible for technical planning of surveys, formulation of concepts and definitions, sampling design etc.
  • Field Operations Division (FOD): With its headquarters at Delhi/Faridabad is responsible for the collection of primary data.
  • Data Processing Division (DPD): Headquarters at Kolkata is responsible for sample selection, software development, processing, validation and tabulation of data.
  • Survey Coordination Division (SCD): Located at New Delhi, coordinates all the activities of different Divisions of NSS.