Which of the following brings out the ‘Consumer Price Index Number for the Industrial Workers’?

The correct answer is C) The Labour Bureau. The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) is compiled and published by the Labour Bureau, which works under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The same bureau also brings out the CPI for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and the CPI for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL).

Why the others are wrong:

• RBI (A): It sets monetary policy and uses inflation numbers to guide it, but it does not compile price indices.
• Department of Economic Affairs (B): This is a Finance Ministry wing that handles economic policy and external finance matters, not index compilation.
• Department of Personnel and Training (D): This is a DoPT body dealing with civil service matters, so it has no role in price statistics.

The core concept is the difference between the sectoral price indices. CPI-IW is used mainly for wage revision, dearness allowance and linking wages to inflation in industrial employment. This connects to the Mains economy paper on inflation measurement and the role of price indices in wage and social policy.

Note that the base year of CPI-IW has been revised since 2015, so check the current series before quoting a base year.

Trap: Candidates confuse CPI-IW with the all-India CPI, which is compiled by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), or with WPI, which is published by the Office of Economic Adviser under the DPIIT. Remember that CPI-IW belongs to the Labour Bureau.