PLFS Labour Survey to Count Gig Workers, Unpaid Work From 2027
Image: Rupak De Chowduri / Reuters
The National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday, 23 October, proposed changes to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) from January 2027. It wants a separate sample for gig and digital platform workers and new questions on unpaid household work, and has asked researchers, policymakers and the public to send comments within 15 days. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said the current design “did not capture an adequate number of digital platform workers”, a gap the 2026 survey round showed.
Gig Workers Get Their Own Sample
The survey would add a new second-stage stratum for digital platform work, with four such strata in rural areas and five in urban areas. Fourteen households would be surveyed in each selected first-stage unit. A yes/no question would ask whether any household member did digital platform work during the reference period, in both rural and urban homes.
New questions on unpaid work would also be asked of people aged 15 and above at the first visit: own-use production of goods, unpaid household and caregiving work, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work. The NSO says this would allow annual reporting on these forms of work.
Old and New Sample Frames Overlap for Three Months
Fresh samples for 2027-28 will come from an updated frame that reflects the latest Urban Frame Survey, urbanisation and changes to districts and administrative units. For the first three months from January 2027, the sample will include units from both the Panel 5 frame and the updated Panel 6 frame. Monthly bulletins for those months will show pooled estimates, and relative standard errors will not be published.
The PLFS began in 2017 as an annual survey and now gives monthly and quarterly data. It is India’s main source on employment and unemployment. Changes to the survey schedule are also proposed, but the release as reported does not detail them.
Fifteen Days for Comments
The NSO has prepared a concept note with the full proposal. Counted from 23 October, the 15-day window ends around 7 November. More on the economy is in our Economy section and Daily Updates.
Source: MoSPI release on PIB. Also based on reporting by Business Today and IANS.
Image: Rupak De Chowduri / Reuters.
