Engage NSC more actively for robust surveys: NSC chairman to govt

Tussle between the commission and govt agencies has been going on since its inception in 2006,' says former NSC head

The government should more actively engage the National Statistical Commission (NSC) to ensure the robustness and timeliness of surveys, NSC chairman RL Karandikar said on Friday.

“I have been highlighting the concerns regarding the timeliness of the surveys. There are other concerns too, like the usability of data by the end users. The government needs to be more proactive in engaging the NSC for data across the board, so that the mandate of the commission is fulfilled,” Karandikar said, highlighting that the statistical commission should have a greater role in the country’s statistical systems.

The comments by the chairman come at a time when the ministry is looking at ways to improve the country’s statistical framework.

PC Mohanan, former acting chairman of NSC who quit in January 2019 over the delay in release of the employment data after the report was cleared by the NSC, said that the tussle between the commission and government agencies has been ongoing since the time of its inception in 2006. 

“The national statistical office (NSO) was supposed to be the implementing agency of the NSC, as per the Rangarajan committee report, which laid the foundation for setting up of NSC. Barring the initial few years, this convention has largely been ignored. It is time that the commission is empowered through a statute, on the lines of the Statistics Authority in Britain, so that the government influence on data is minimised,” he added. 

The current NSC chairman also suggested that the purview of the commission should be extended beyond the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), like the issue of standardisation of marks for competitive and entrance examinations across the country.

Earlier last year, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister had raised concerns regarding the data quality of surveys and MoSPI had reconstituted the Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) to advise on all surveys, with former chief statistician of India Pronab Sen as its chairman.

Earlier this year, the prime minister’s office also held a review meeting to discuss the quality of statistics. The NSC has also formed a steering committee to suggest new surveys and methodology.