New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- India's ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has commenced celebrations to commemorate 75 years of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), India's premier agency for all-India statistical surveys. Established back in 1950, the NSSO has earned the reputation of a fine survey agency globally. To its credit, it has served as a role model for many other countries, not just in the developing world, but also in the developed.

During its long journey, the NSSO has faced criticism and controversies, particularly over the past three decades.

The first of these was around its 1999-00 consumption survey. But the agency weathered that storm by boldly releasing unit-level data to the public. That let re...