Previous Year Question
Which of the following brings out the “Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers”?
The Reserve Bank of India
The Department of Economic Affairs
The Labour Bureau
The Department of Personnel and Training
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers—CPI-IW—is compiled and released by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
CPI-IW measures changes over time in the retail prices of a specified basket of goods and services consumed by industrial-worker households.
The general CPI formula is:
The actual CPI-IW is a weighted index. Each item or group receives a weight based on the consumer-expenditure pattern of industrial-worker families.
Major groups covered by CPI-IW include:
Food and beverages.
Pan, supari, tobacco and intoxicants.
Clothing and footwear.
Housing.
Fuel and light.
Miscellaneous items, including healthcare, education, transport and communication.
Important uses include:
Revision of Dearness Allowance for Central and State Government employees.
Calculation of Dearness Relief for pensioners.
Indexation of wages in parts of the organised sector.
Measurement of retail inflation experienced by industrial-worker households.
Labour policy and wage negotiations.
Base-year fact: At the time relevant to the question, the CPI-IW series used 2001=100 as its base. The Labour Bureau introduced a new series with 2016=100 in September 2020, updating the consumption basket, weights and price-collection centres.
Examination of the options:
Option (a): RBI uses CPI Combined and other inflation data for monetary policy but does not compile CPI-IW.
Option (b): The Department of Economic Affairs deals with economic policy and budget-related matters but does not publish CPI-IW.
Option (c): The Labour Bureau is the official compiler and publisher of CPI-IW.
Option (d): DoPT may issue orders relating to Dearness Allowance, but the underlying CPI-IW is produced by the Labour Bureau.