Patna economist to head GoI expert panel

Patna: Noted economist Prof Alakh N Sharma from Patna has been appointed chairperson (non-official) of a high-level technical expert committee on labour statistics by the govt of India.Prof Sharma, director of the Institute for Human Development (IHD), hails from Datiyana village in Patna district. He earlier served at the AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences and has carried out extensive research on issues related to Bihar’s development. Currently, he is the president of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) and editor of the Indian Journal of Labour Economics (IJLE). His contributions to labour economics have been widely recognised.Speaking to TOI, Prof Sharma said existing surveys often miss key aspects of the changing labour market, particularly gig workers and women’s employment. “The panel’s purpose will be to capture labour market realities such as open unemployment, which stands at around 3% in India, besides multiple occupations among the poor and instances of self-employment without wages,” he said. He added that issues like women’s employment and migration are often inadequately covered in surveys.

The committee will also assess whether international labour standards defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) are being implemented in India.According to the official notification, the expert committee has been constituted following a decision by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to strengthen and periodically review the statistical framework of labour market indicators derived from household surveys.

The move comes in view of evolving labour market structures and the need for more granular, timely and internationally comparable data.The committee will examine existing concepts, definitions, classifications, sampling techniques and measurement frameworks used in labour statistics, particularly in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). It will also review recommendations from the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), especially those related to forms of work, informal employment and other emerging labour trends.