Why in news?

• The NHIS is a first-ever pan-India household income survey planned by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and scheduled to be launched in February 2026.
• It aims to collect comprehensive data on household incomes, sources of income, expenditure patterns, and living conditions across the country.
• This survey is designed to fill a significant data gap in India’s socio-economic statistics and enable detailed inter-personal income comparisons and analysis of income distribution and poverty.

Key details about NHIS 2026:

• It will cover incomes from salaried employment, casual labor, self-employment, pensions, remittances, stipends, gratuity, and income from assets.
• The survey data will support rebasing the Consumer Price Index (CPI), preparation of National Accounts, and poverty and hardship analysis.
• A pre-testing exercise was conducted in August 2025 across multiple regional offices for questionnaire clarity and acceptability.
• This initiative will address historical challenges including income-consumption mismatch and provide insights on the impact of technology on wages and informal sector earnings.

The NHIS marks a historic step toward evidence-based income analysis and better understanding of income inequality and economic welfare in India.

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