Kerala to appoint new Statistical Commission

With concerns having been raised about "political interference" in statistical data in the country, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Tuesday Kerala was in the process of appointing a new Statistical commission, which will serve as a model for other states.

In his inaugural address at a workshop on 'state level statistics for Kerala', Vijayan emphasised the importance of timely, complete, accurate and reliable statistics.

Stressing the need for such statistics for effective planning and policy formulation, he said the state's social and economic policies should be guided by high quality statistical data.

He said the workshop assumes significance in the light of the recent controversy regarding the statistical system in the country, whereby the integrity of government statistics was being questioned.

Concerns have been raised about political interference and tinkering of data at the national level, a release quoting him said.

"Questionable data invariably results in incorrect planning and ineffective policies," Vijayan added.

Vice Chairperson of the Planning Board, V K Ramachandran said the workshop would be crucial in drawing out the Terms of Reference for the new state Statistical commission and identifying the data requirement of the state.

The workshop was organised by the state planning board.

Expressing concerns over "political interference" in statistical data in India, 108 economists and social scientists recently called for restoration of "institutional independence" and integrity of statistical organisations.

Their appeal in March came against the backdrop of controversy over revision of gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and withholding employment data by the NSSO.

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dubbed the "108 purported economists" alleging government interference in statistical data as a "fake campaign", saying these compulsive contrarians have repeatedly signed memorandums of manufactured political issues against the present regime.

NITI-Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has emphasised the need to revamp and modernise the countrys statistical system to capture real-time data for policy analysis.