The Indian census provides the longest time-series on social and economic change in India and is a rich source of information on demographic variables. However the census does not include individual/household consumption and expenditure data, making its use in district-level policy analysis difficult. One way around the problem is to import this information from other sources, such as the National Sample Survey (NSS). Although the NSS does not sample every district in the country the sample sizes are reasonably large at the level of the NSS region. This opens up the possibility of using these estimates of consumption and poverty in conjunction with the census. This paper documents how a consistent time-series can be constructed for the two most recent censuses as a particular illustration of how the census and the NSS can be used together.
