Social development theme chosen for Statistics Day apt: Singh

The theme of "social development" chosen for Statistics Day is quite relevant and related to various schemes of development initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Statistics & Programme Implementation Minister Vijay Kumar Singh said today.
Singh, who also looks after the Ministry of External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs as a Minister of State, called upon statisticians to use technology to analyse the data to make it relevant for interventions to be made in specific areas for the development of the society.
"The government is looking for focused interventions in areas like education, health and sanitation. The proposed 'Time Use' survey of people both in paid and unpaid work by his Ministry should contribute for understanding and taking decisions for improving the productivity of the nation," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by MOSPI.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has been celebrating the Statistics Day every year since 2007 to create public awareness for drawing inspiration from Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis about the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning, policy formulation and good governance.
National Statistical Commission Chairman Pronab Sen said most of the larger problems have been addressed as a part of the development agenda and now data collection and analysis need to be different to address specific problems in identified and focused areas.
"It is now time to review the social development in the country as a part of review of the millennium development goals in 2015," said T C A Anant, Secretary, MOSPI.

Anant said statistical tools should be improved to be able to measure various social developmental parameters of the society.

On the occasion, Singh conferred the National Awards in Statistics to Hukum Chandra, Scientist at IASRI and Pulak Ghosh, Professor at IIM, Bangalore.
The National Awards in Statistics were constituted in the honour of professor C R Rao.
The theme of 'Social Development' was selected in view of the contribution and importance of this sector to Indian economy.
The 9th Statistics Day was also celebrated all over India by MOSPI, state governments, offices of NSSO spread across the country, Indian Statistical Institute and various universities/departments.