UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — First-ever district-level estimates released by NSO for unincorporated non-agricultural sector

Q1. With reference to the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2025, consider the following: 1. The district within a State was adopted as the basic stratum of the sample design. 2. The reference period of the round was January 2025 to December 2025. 3. Construction enterprises were brought within the regular coverage of the survey for the first time in this round. 4. A Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises was introduced to release key estimates at more frequent intervals. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The district within a State was adopted as the basic stratum of the sample design.
  2. The reference period of the round was January 2025 to December 2025.
  3. Construction enterprises were brought within the regular coverage of the survey for the first time in this round.
  4. A Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises was introduced to release key estimates at more frequent intervals.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q2. In ASUSE 2025, which one of the following broad activity categories recorded the highest growth in Gross Value Added over ASUSE 2023-24?

  • A. Manufacturing, which alone accounted for the entire increase in the sector's Gross Value Added
  • B. Other services, which grew faster than manufacturing and trade taken together
  • C. Construction, the only broad category for which quarterly estimates are compiled
  • D. Trade, which grew faster than the sector's overall Gross Value Added growth of 10.87%

Q3. The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises is designed, conducted and released by which one of the following?

  • A. Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME), which alone compiles all data on India's informal enterprises
  • B. Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • C. National Statistical Office, the statistics wing of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
  • D. Economics and Statistics Division of NITI Aayog, the sole agency for all sub-national economic surveys

Q4. The National Statistical Commission was set up by a Government of India resolution in which year, and on the recommendations of which body?

  • A. 2019, on the recommendations of the Rangarajan Commission that reviewed the Indian Statistical System
  • B. 2005, on the recommendations of the Rangarajan Commission that reviewed the Indian Statistical System
  • C. 2005, on the recommendations of the Radhakrishna Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics
  • D. 2001, on the recommendations of the Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics of the NSC

Q5. For the purposes of ASUSE, an establishment is treated as 'unincorporated' primarily on which one of the following bases?

  • A. It is registered under neither the Companies Act, 1956 nor the Companies Act, 2013
  • B. It is not registered under the Companies Act, 2013, though units registered under the Companies Act, 1956 are covered
  • C. It is not registered under Section 2m(i) or Section 2m(ii) of the Factories Act, 1948
  • D. It is not registered under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006

Q6. With reference to ASUSE, which one of the following is the primary unit of enquiry?

  • A. The enterprise as a whole, taken together with all its units located at different places
  • B. The household, with the non-agricultural activities of all its members pooled into a single return
  • C. The establishment, that is, the unit at a single location where mainly a single productive activity is carried out
  • D. The first-stage unit, that is, the village or the urban block within which such units are located

Q7. The NSS 73rd Round (July 2015 – June 2016) placed the estimated all-India number of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises (excluding construction) at about how many?

  • A. 7.34 crore
  • B. 6.34 crore
  • C. 7.92 crore
  • D. 12.81 crore

Q8. The report 'Key Indicators of Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises (Excluding Construction) in India', based on the 73rd Round, was released by which organisation, and what subsequently happened to that organisation?

  • A. NSSO, which was reconstituted in 2019 as the National Statistical Commission with a part-time Chairperson
  • B. CSO, which was merged with the National Statistical Commission in 2019 to form the National Statistical Office
  • C. NSSO, which was merged with the Central Statistics Office in 2019 to form the National Statistical Office
  • D. DGCIS, which was transferred in 2019 from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to MoSPI

Q9. The Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics, whose report was submitted in 2012, was constituted by which one of the following?

  • A. The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, set up to review informal sector livelihoods
  • B. The National Statistical Commission, the apex advisory body on the national statistical system
  • C. The Planning Commission, as part of the preparatory work for the Twelfth Five Year Plan
  • D. The National Sample Survey Office, as a technical sub-committee of its own Governing Council

Q10. The Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics that submitted its report in 2012 was chaired by which one of the following?

  • A. Dr. C. Rangarajan
  • B. Dr. Arjun Sengupta
  • C. Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar
  • D. Prof. R. Radhakrishna

Q11. In the context of ASUSE 2025 yielding annual estimates for districts, the expression 'district as the basic stratum' means which one of the following?

  • A. Every establishment in the district is enumerated, so that sampling at that level is dispensed with altogether
  • B. District administrations, rather than the survey agency's field staff, are made responsible for canvassing the schedules
  • C. The sample of first-stage units is allocated and drawn separately within each district of a State, so each district yields its own sample
  • D. Figures are compiled first for the State and then apportioned among its districts in proportion to their populations

Q12. With reference to the major statistical exercises of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, consider the following statements: 1. The Annual Survey of Industries draws its frame from factories registered under Sections 2m(i) and 2m(ii) of the Factories Act, 1948. 2. The Economic Census is a complete enumeration of establishments and covers non-farm agricultural activities as well. 3. The Periodic Labour Force Survey is an enterprise survey whose principal output is the Gross Value Added of unincorporated establishments. 4. ASUSE covers unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in manufacturing, trade and other services, but leaves out construction. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The Annual Survey of Industries draws its frame from factories registered under Sections 2m(i) and 2m(ii) of the Factories Act, 1948.
  2. The Economic Census is a complete enumeration of establishments and covers non-farm agricultural activities as well.
  3. The Periodic Labour Force Survey is an enterprise survey whose principal output is the Gross Value Added of unincorporated establishments.
  4. ASUSE covers unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in manufacturing, trade and other services, but leaves out construction.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2
  • C. 2 and 3
  • D. 3 and 4