Parliament Question: Evidence-based Urban Planning

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1778 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2026 EVIDENCE-BASED URBAN PLANNING

1778. DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be

pleased to state:

(a) whether the Union Government has undertaken any assessment of the adequacy, periodicity and granularity of urban statistical data available for evidence-based policy formulation by State Governments and Urban Local Bodies and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the urban statistical datasets maintained by the Government indicating the frequency of updation, level of geographical disaggregation and mode of public access;

(c) whether the Union Government has received any representations from State Governments regarding gaps in the availability, accessibility or periodicity of urban statistical data particularly from Kerala and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon; and

(d) the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Union Government to strengthen the availability, accessibility and quality of urban statistical data and to support State statistical systems for evidence-based urban planning? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH]

(a) to (d): The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

(MoSPl), through the National Statistics Office (NSO), has been taking steps to improve the availability, timeliness and geographical granularity of official statistics for evidence-based policy formulation. To support the State Government and Urban Local Bodies, the sampling design of National Sample Survey (NSS) surveys has been modified for generating district level estimates.MoSPl has also introduced City-Level estimates for 46 Million-Plus Cities (as per Census 2011) through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) for providing disaggregated statistics for urban planning and policy analysis.

In most of the survey reports, the estimates are available separately for rural and urban areas which are updated at regular periodic intervals and are placed in public domain. In order to facilitate local policy formulation and regional planning, States/UTs participate in various National Sample Survey (NSS) surveys to generate district-level estimates. The quality standards followed by States/UTs are as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of MoSPl which interalia includes robust sampling design, uniform survey instruments, standardized data processing protocols, and structured validation checks, etc.

MoSPl has not received any request/suggestion from State Governments including Kerala regarding gaps in the availability, accessibility or periodicity of urban statistical data.

To support the State statistical system for evidence-based planning, MoSPl has taken various steps which inter-alia include technical assistance, sampling design, survey instruments, capacity-building, supporting digital infrastructure such as tablets, CAPI and cloud servers, etc. Under the 'Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS)', MoSPI provides technical and financial support to the States/ UTs governments for strengthening their statistical operations and capacity, viz. strengthening statistical applications and IT infrastructure; capacity building and training of statistical personnel; improvement in data quality and efficiency;

strengthening participation in National Sample Surveys, Consumer Price Index and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) monitoring; dissemination of statistical outputs and user-producer consultations; and improving timeliness, quality and accessibility of official statistics; adoption of innovative statistical techniques and methodologies. Further, financial assistance is also provided to States/UTs under the Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS) scheme for strengthening their statistical capacity and operations. As such, Kerala had submitted a proposal under the ‘Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS)’ in 2015-16 and 2024-25, for various statistical activities and IT infrastructure support, amounting to a total of Rs. 22.49 crores. The proposal and fund requirements of the State had been rationalised and Rs. 15.105 crores was released till March, 2026.

The statistical reports and other official statistical outputs are placed in the public domain through the official websites and other dissemination platforms like e-Sankhyiki, GolStats mobile apps, etc. Unit- level data, along with relevant technical documents such as sampling design and other survey documentation, are also made available through the Microdata Portal of MoSPl.

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