•   CPI IW index numbers are utilised for fixation and revision of wages, determination of Variable Dearness Allowances, measuring inflationary trend in the country and policy formulation by the Government.

•   Labour Bureau brings out these index numbers every month.

•   Now the base year is 2016.

•   CPI measures price changes from the perspective of a retail buyer. It is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

•   The CPI calculates the difference in the price of commodities and services such as food, medical care, education, electronics etc, which Indian consumers buy for use.

•   The CPI has several sub-groups including food and beverages, fuel and light, housing and clothing, bedding and footwear.

•   At present, India has five consumer price indexes (CPIs), three of which are working-class specific. These are:

•   CPI for Industrial Workers (IW).

•   CPI for Agricultural Labourer (AL).

•   CPI for Rural Labourer (RL)

•   These three indexes are compiled by the Labour Bureau.

•   Two other indexes are CPI-Urban and CPI Rural. These two indexes are compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

•   The combined rise in retail prices is captured by CPI Combined.

•   Labour Bureau is responsible for the collation, collection and publication of statistics and related information on wages, earnings, productivity, absenteeism, labour turn-over, industrial relations, working and living conditions and evaluation of working of various labour enactments etc.

•   It is a storehouse of important economic indicators like Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial, Agricultural and Rural Labourers; wage rate indices and data on industrial relations, socio-economic conditions in the organised and unorganised sector of industry etc.

•   The functions/activities of Labour Bureau can be classified under three major heads:

o  Labour Intelligence

o  Labour Research

o  Monitoring and evaluation studies under the Minimum Wages Act 1948.

•   It releases annual publication, ‘Industrial Disputes, Closures, Retrenchments and Lay-Offs in industries in India’. It provides statistics on work-stoppages, closures, retrenchments and lockouts which is useful in making policies for maintaining cordial and harmonious relations between the management and the worker.

•   This report is also aimed at meeting the demand for historical data and information on industrial conflicts and their causes by the planners, policy makers and decision makers in industry and government. Hence option (c) is the correct answer.