By Dr. Gyan Pathak
India is set to further ‘improve’ employment and unemployment data by revamping the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and bringing out the data accordingly from January 2027. The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has proposed to introduce modification in the sampling design of the PLFS from January 2027, when fresh samples for the two-year period 2027-2028 (new Panel 6) will be drawn from an updated sampling frame. It also introduces certain changes in the survey schedule.
The PLFS was introduced in the financial year 2017-18, and was officially launched by NSO in April 2017. It replaced the older, less frequent system of quinquennial (five-yearly) employment and unemployment surveys (EUS). PLFS introduced methodological improvements over the earlier EUS, including a rotational panel sampling design for urban areas, Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) with in-built validation checks, collection of information on hours worked, and changes in the sampling design and schedule of enquiry to generate periodic labour force estimates.
Since 2017-18, PLFS annual surveys were being brought along with quarterly surveys for urban areas. It was revamped in January 2025 to bring out monthly data. The PLFS new series was brought from May 2025 for the month of April 2025. Changes continued even after that and from January 2026, education and skilling questions have been added, and also information on digital platform workers, a subset of gig workers, have been collected on experimental basis.
Now NSO has invited comments and suggestions from the policymakers, researchers, academic and research institutions and members of the general public on the proposed modifications within 15 days from today, that is the date of publication of this press note on the Press Information Bureau Website on October 23, 2026.
The proposed key changes in sampling design and estimation are separate stratum for digital platform workers, updated sampling frame and refinement, and transition in the first three months. The proposed key changes in the PLFS Schedule involve identifying digital platform workers and measuring unpaid activities.
Separate stratum for digital platform workers has been proposed because according the government, experience from PLFS 2026 showed that the existing arrangement did not capture an adequate number of digital platform workers. A new Second Stage Stratum (SSS) based on digital platform work is being introduced, while the existing SSS structure and composition are retained. There will be four SSSs in rural areas and five in urban areas, with 14 households canvassed in each selected First Stage Unit (FSU). This revision in SSS formation is expected to improve the coverage of digital platform workers and facilitate more comprehensive data collection on this emerging segment of the labour market.
As for updated sampling frame and refinements, the press note stated that fresh samples for the two-year period 2027-2028 (Panel 6) will be drawn from an updated frame reflecting the updated Urban Frame Survey, urbanisation and de-urbanisation, and the creation, splitting or merger of districts and other administrative units, along with follow-up updation of the rural Census 2011 frame. NSO thinks that the updated sampling frame will ensure better representation of the current population, urban population in particular, by capturing changes in urbanisation, administrative boundaries and the emergence of new urban areas. It is expected to improve sample coverage and enhance the reliability and relevance of PLFS estimates.
Additionally, criteria for sample allocation and stratification have also been modified/ updated based on the experience of the previous two-year period (Panel 5). These revisions are expected to improve the efficiency of sample allocation and stratification and ensure better representation of population variations which in turn minimise operational difficulties during sample selection.
The complete transition to the revamped PLFS will that three months. For the first three months from January 2027, the sample will comprise FSUs from both the Panel 5 frame and the updated Panel 6 frame. Pooled monthly estimates based on both frames will be presented in the monthly bulletins for these months. Relative Standard Error (RSE) estimates will not be presented for these three months. This approach will facilitate a smooth transition to the updated sampling frame while ensuring continuity in the release of monthly and quarterly labour market estimates.
One of the key changes in the PLFS schedule will be identifying digital platform workers. An additional binary question has been introduced in Block 5 of Schedule 0.0PL, to identify households in which any member has ever engaged in digital platform work during the specified reference period. The questions will be canvassed in all urban as well as rural households to facilitate the identification of eligible households for formation of the new digital platform workers based SSS.
The revamped PLFS from January 2027 will measure unpaid activities. New questions have been added to Schedule 10.4 on own-use production of goods, unpaid household and caregiving activities, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work. These items will be canvassed in both rural and urban areas during the first visit only, for persons aged 15 years and above, thereby enabling annual reporting on these activities. The inclusion of these items will facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of different forms of work beyond conventional employment, improve the availability of data on unpaid and non-market activities and support a broader understanding of the contribution of individuals to household and community well-being. (IPA Service)
