Kathmandu, January 5:

The quinquennial national labour survey will most likely get under way by the end of May, an official at the Central Bureau of Statistics said today.

The survey will be completed by April, 2008. But the CBS is not sure which agency will provide Rs 40 million, which will be needed to conduct the survey.

“Preparations for conducting the survey are almost over. The meeting of the 21-member steering committee, which was held last week, almost finalised the sample design and questionnaire for the survey,” said the CBS deputy director, Rabi Prasad Kayastha.

However, he said the sample survey design and questionnaire will not be finalised and given a go-ahead before collecting technical suggestions from an expert of the ILO. “An ILO expert will spend a few days at the CBS,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CBS is not sure which agency will contribute Rs 40 million, which will be needed to conduct the survey. Concept papers have been sent to the Asian Development Bank and UNESCO.

“The ILO is prospecting for the funds,” Kayastha said.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) has demonstrated “enhanced commitment to have the survey at any cost. An NPC member, Posh Raj Pandey, is working for its implementation,” he said.

The survey will be cranking up data on internal displacement of labour force, internal migration of workforce and a trend concerning who are going out to work.

“Altogether 800 Primary Sampling Units will have to be formed to conduct the survey. In the final analysis, enumerators will pick up 16,000 families from among 42 lakh families for the purpose,” he said, adding the team will work round-the-year to accommodate seasonal effects.

Monitoring system

KATHMANDU: The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has devised Nepalinfo 5.0, an advanced database management system, which has all data associated with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The UNICEF provided funds for preparing the system. The UN has endorsed the system. With Nepalinfo 5.0 in hand, one is only a mouse click away from not only making decision after analysing data, but also empowered to undertake result-based monitoring and evaluation. It is also a tool that links national, sub-national and regional data. — HNS