Economic Census 2019: Work in full swing for 7th massive exercise; here's why it is important

Economic Census 2019: Preparations for the 7th Economic Census are in full swing. The Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation has planned several activities in the run-up to the field work to be undertaken by the enumerators across the country. Six Economic Censuses (EC) have been conducted by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation till date. The first Economic Census was undertaken in 1977. The Second EC was carried out in 1980 followed by the Third EC in 1990. The fourth edition took place in 1998 while the fifth EC was held in 2005. The Sixth edition of Economic Census was conducted in 2013.

What is Economic Census? Why is it important?

According to the Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, Economic Census is the complete count of all establishment located within the geographical boundary of India. It provides disaggregated information on various operational and structural variables of all establishments of the country. Economic Census also provides valuable insight into geographical spread/clusters of economic activities, ownership pattern, persons engaged, etc of all economic establishments in the country. 

The information collected during Economic Census are useful for socio-economic developmental planning at state and district levels. Economic Census provides an updated sampling frame for follow- up enterprise surveys undertaken for detailed and comprehensive analysis of all establishments in the country.

Work in full swing

Training of trainers at the state level is one of the most important components of this massive exercise. For this, the ministry said today that a Workshop for State Level Training of Trainers on 7th Economic Census for NCT of Delhi has been organized tomorrow on 6th June 2019 at Silver Oak Conference Room, India Habitat Centre in the national capital.

The training program for state-level trainers in Karnataka, Kerala and Goa will be held on 7th June while for Madhya Pradesh it is scheduled on 10th June. The training workshop for Tamilnadu will be held on 11th June while for  Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, it has been scheduled on  12th June.

In the National Workshop held on 14th May, 2019, the participants (Master Trainers) were trained on the key concepts and definitions, processes, digital platform and application to be used for the enumeration (data capture and supervision) in the field. This is being followed by State and District level detailed training, the minstry said.

The fieldwork for the 7th EC is likely to commence by the end of June 2019 or next month. The results of the exercise will be made available after the verification and validation of the field work.

Economic Census will cover all establishments including household enterprises, engaged in production or distribution of goods/services (other than for the sole purpose of own consumption) in non-farm agricultural and non-agricultural sector will be counted. The coverage is same as the one in 6th Economic Census, conducted in 2013.