Previous Year Question

Historically, India's official national-income estimates were prepared by the National Accounts Division (NAD) of the CSO. According to official MoSPI records, after the National Income Committee, India's first official series of national income estimates was prepared by the Central Statistical Organisation.

National-income accounting is not limited to a single figure. It includes estimates of various macroeconomic aggregates such as GDP, National Income, Gross/Net National Income, consumption expenditure, saving and capital formation. MoSPI's current official description also assigns the National Accounts Division responsibility for preparing national accounts, including GDP and National Income estimates.

It is important to know the present institutional position. The CSO and NSSO were reorganised/merged within the framework of the National Statistical Office (NSO). Therefore, CSO is the correct option in this older PYQ, while under the present official arrangement, national accounts and national-income estimates are prepared by the National Accounts Division of the National Statistical Office under MoSPI.