More women at senior positions will enhance inclusive development: Prez

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said more women at senior positions and in leadership roles will strengthen India's resolve for inclusive development.

She was addressing the probationers of the Indian Statistical Service who had called on the president at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

She asked them to do their duty with sincerity and commitment.

"Your contribution in steering India towards greater progress and development is going to be huge. The information and data analysis that you provide will be instrumental in making and implementing policies which ensure that no one is left behind in the journey of development," the president said.

Murmu said she was also delighted to know that lady officers comprise over 40 per cent of the officers present at the ceremony.

"More women at senior positions and in leadership roles will definitely strengthen India's resolve for inclusive development," the president added.

Murmu said India is at the cusp of a new phase of socio-economic transformation.

"Increased penetration of digital technologies has brought transparency and efficiency in the government functioning and has transformed the e-government landscape. The flow of data through these initiatives provides support to the government in taking effective decisions," she said.

Addressing the officers, the president said policy formulation and execution cannot be effective without the right statistical analysis.

"In this era of endless information and data flow, the role and importance of statistics has increased exponentially. When we talk about India's rank in respect of any parameter, it is statistics. When we say, India is a country of young people or has high demographic dividend, it is on the basis of statistics that we say this," Murmu said.

The president said Indian Statistical Service officers have a key role in compiling official statistics at the central level for use of government and non-government entities.

"Their job requires high proficiency in statistical methods, which they would use to provide solutions to data and information needs of the country," Murmu said.

She noted that various modules in their training cover wide range of areas, including recently emerged fields of data mining, big data and artificial intelligence.

The president expressed confidence that the training programme would enable them to perform their duties efficiently.