Date: 2025-12-17Category: Press ReleaseState: Union GovernmentCountry: India
All India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) for Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2026 conducted by NSO(FOD) on 17th December 2025 at New Delhi
**Executive Summary**
The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), conducted a one-day All India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) on December 17, 2025, in New Delhi. The workshop focused on the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2026. The surveys will commence from January 2026.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Workshop Overview:**
* AIWOT was a preparatory training program for nationwide field operations.
* 300 participants from Zonal, Regional, Sub-Regional offices, Household Survey Division (HSD), and Enterprise Survey Division (EnSD), Kolkata, attended.
* Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, inaugurated the workshop, emphasizing the importance of data quality and uniform understanding of concepts.
* **Survey Details:**
* ASUSE 2026 focuses on the economic and operational characteristics of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments.
* PLFS provides data on labour force participation, employment, and unemployment.
* Surveys will cover the whole of the Indian Union except for villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
* **Changes in ASUSE 2026:**
* Adoption of National Industrial Classification (NIC) -2025 and alignment with Central Product Classification (CPC) 3.0.
* Collection of inward transportation charges.
* **Changes in PLFS:**
* Additional questions to capture platform workers.
* Updated schedule using NIC-2025 for detailed economic activity capture.
* Alignment with ISIC Revision 5 for international data comparability.
* **Training:**
* Master trainers from all States and Union Territories will conduct zonal and regional-level trainings for enumerators and supervisors.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Master Trainers**
* **Impact:** Expected to conduct zonal and regional-level training for enumerators and supervisors
* **Action Required:** Participate actively in the workshop to understand changes in ASUSE and PLFS and train field staff effectively.
**Stakeholder: Enumerators and Supervisors**
* **Impact:** Conducting surveys of unincorporated sector enterprises and the labour force.
* **Action Required:** Attend zonal and regional training, understand changes, and collect high-quality data.
**Stakeholder: Policy Makers and Government Ministries**
* **Impact:** Reliance on the data to inform policy decisions, particularly in the labour market and unincorporated sectors.
* **Action Required:** Utilise the data to inform policy making.
**Stakeholder: NSO(FOD)**
* **Impact:** Responsible for conducting the surveys.
* **Action Required:** Ensure transparent and methodologically robust sample surveys.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI): The nodal ministry responsible for statistical activities in India, including the surveys in question.
Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026: A key survey focusing on the economic and operational characteristics of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2026: The primary source of official data on labour force participation, employment, and unemployment in India.
National Statistics Office (NSO): The office under MoSPI responsible for conducting large-scale surveys, including ASUSE and PLFS.
New Delhi: Location where the All India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) for ASUSE and PLFS was conducted.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
All India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) for
Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector
Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 and Periodic Labour
Force Survey (PLFS) 2026 conducted by
NSO(FOD) on 17th December 2025 at New Delhi
प्रव तथ: 17 DEC 2025 8:19PM by PIB Delhi
The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI),
conducted a one-day All-India Workshop of Trainers (AIWOT) for the Annual Survey of Unincorporated
Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2026 at the Manekshaw
Centre, New Delhi on December 17, 2025. The workshop is a key preparatory training programme
conducted ahead of the nationwide field operations of these flagship surveys. A total of 300 participants
from Zonal, Regional and Sub-Regional offices including the officers from Household Survey Division
(HSD) and Enterprise Survey Division (EnSD), Kolkata, attended the workshop.
Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, inaugurated the workshop. In his address he highlighted that ASUSE
and PLFS are among the most important surveys of the National Statistical System, providing vital
insights on labour markets and the unincorporated sector. He emphasised that States and Ministries are
increasingly recognising data needs on these sectors. He mentioned that United Nations has now
recognized data as a strategic asset with more focus on data analysis for policy making. He emphasized
how credible, reliable and timely data is essential for national development. With the growing use of
analytics and Artificial Intelligence, the Secretary stressed that data quality at the field level is paramount,
as policy outcomes depend on the integrity of the data collected. He also underlined the significance of
district-level estimates and urged trainers to ensure uniform understanding of concepts and rigorous
training of field staffs.Smt. Geeta Singh Rathore, Director General, National Sample Survey (NSS), noted that NSS is
internationally recognised for conducting large-scale, transparent and methodologically robust sample
surveys and mentioned about the NSS’s transition from paper to CAPI mode. She elaborated that
conceptual and operational changes have been introduced in ASUSE and PLFS based on user feedback
and evolving data requirements and the workshop is conducted for understanding these changes prior to
undertaking the survey on field.
Senior officers from the Field Operations Division (FOD), EnSD, HSD and Coordination & Quality
Control Division (CQCD) of NSS stressed the importance of training and effective coordination and
supervision to achieve desired data quality. It was highlighted that reliability, transparency and
standardisation are fundamental to maintaining user trust in official statistics and encouraged structured
feedback from the field for continuous improvement.
The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2026 is devoted exclusively to
economic and operational characteristics of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in
manufacturing, trade and other services sector while the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is the
primary source of official data on labour force participation, employment, and unemployment in India.
These surveys will cover the whole of the Indian Union except the villages in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands which remain difficult to access throughout the year and will commence from January 2026.
Based on the Data User Conferences and stakeholder consultations, some changes were introduced in the
ASUSE and PLFS questionnaire. The key changes in ASUSE 2026 include adoption of National Industrial
Classification (NIC) -2025 and alignment with Central Product Classification (CPC) 3.0. In addition, from
2026, inward transportation charges, like transportation charges paid for procuring raw material, other
freight or cartage charges incurred for transportation by railways, road, water and air will also be
collected.
In PLFS, additional questions have been introduced in from January 2026 to capture the volume of
platform workers who are engaged in production of good and/ or services by accessing digital platform.
Platform work is an arrangement in which matching between workers and clients is intermediated through
a digital or online platform. Further, PLFS schedule has been updated to collect industry related
information from January 2026 by using NIC- 2025 enabling surveys to capture economic activities with
much finer detail. Aligned with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities (ISIC) Revision 5 of the United Nations Statistics Division, NIC-2025 ensures greater
comparability of Indian data with international datasets and cross-country analyses.
The workshop witnessed active participation from master trainers from all States and Union Territories,
who will further conduct zonal and regional-level trainings for enumerators and supervisors. The AIWOT
concluded with a reaffirmation of commitment to professionalism and quality, aimed at ensuring thesuccessful conduct of ASUSE 2026 and PLFS 2026, thereby strengthening India’s statistical system.
***
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