Panel reiterates recommendation to examine statutory status for NSC

Finance panel says statutory backing could strengthen the NSC's authority to enforce uniform standards and methodologies across public and private data producers.

The matter of granting statutory status to the National Statistical Commission (NSC) has been reiterated in two separate reports, both of which were tabled in Parliament on Monday.

 

The Standing Committee on Finance, which is chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab and which has prepared both the reports, has recommended that the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) examine the feasibility of this.

 

The 38th Report, titled “Performance Review of the National Statistical Commission”, and the 42nd Report, which is on the ministry’s “Demands for Grants (2026-27)”, were presented to the Lok Sabha and laid in the Rajya Sabha.

 

The panel recalled that the Rangarajan Commission (2000) had recommended a permanent statutory body for official statistics, but the NSC, established in 2005, “was never given this legislative framework”.

 

In each report, the committee’s recommendation on statutory status was placed in the chapter on observations in respect of which the replies of the government had not been accepted by the committee.

 

The committee further observed that with various data producers, including a growing number of private data providers, there was a possibility of discrepancies between their statistical estimates and those published by the NSC, particularly for key indicators like gross domestic product.

 

“These potential inconsistencies, which can undermine stakeholder confidence, are largely a result of the NSC’s lack of statutory authority to enforce uniform standards and methodologies across all data producers, including those in the private sector,” it noted. 

 

Saurabh Garg, secretary to the ministry, had told Business Standard in an interaction in June that the present arrangement of the NSC was working well.

 

“The NSC has been functioning effectively. It has been making its recommendations from time to time. And there does not seem to be any immediate requirement for making any changes,” he said. 

 

The committee stated that the ministry had not furnished any  “ convincing”  justification for not examining the issue of granting statutory status to the NSC.

 

It added that the existing functions and autonomy of the Commission “do not obviate the need for providing statutory backing to an institution entrusted with guiding and coordinating the country’s statistical system”.

 

On the Rangarajan Commission, the ministry told the committee that its report had contained 623 recommendations (478 implemented, 17 not accepted/dropped, 12 referred to the NSC, and 116 pending). After review, of the sum of those pending and the ones referred to the NSC, 98 recommendations were being treated as “implemented” and 30 as “closed/dropped” due to feasibility considerations. Hence, “no recommendation of Rangarajan Commission is pending for action”.

 

The 42nd report also covered the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, on which the committee recommended wider and more structured consultations with the relevant stakeholders so that “the core academic autonomy and independent functioning of the Institute are fully preserved”. 

 

“The Committee further recommended that an implementation road map be prepared to address the concerns raised by them and to facilitate a smooth transition to the proposed framework,” it added. 

 

It further reiterated its recommendation that a comprehensive artificial-intelligence integration strategy for the National Statistical System be developed, while noting the ministry’s initiatives through the Data Innovation Lab and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

 

The report examined a budgetary shortfall, with Mospi allocating ₹4,522.25 crore against a projected budgetary demand of ₹5,826.11 crore.

 

The ministry said reduced funding could lead to “a loss of sub-national data granularity” and hinder digital transformation.

 

The panel asked Mospi to ensure optimal utilisation of available funds and seek more through Supplementary Demands for Grants if needed.

 

On infrastructure monitoring, the committee noted that as of January 31, 2026, of the 1,702 ongoing central-sector projects monitored on the PAIMANA portal, 1,105 were reported as delayed.

 

“The Committee views this level of delay as a matter of serious concern, particularly in view of the cascading impact of time overruns on cost escalation, asset productivity and public resource efficiency,” it said.