A professional for the job: G P Samanta, India's new chief statistician

Respected economist takes up job as critics keep up their doubts about official data

G P Samanta, a researcher, will be India’s chief statistician at a time when doubts about state-provided data remain.

A professional statistician is taking the post after almost two-and-a-half years, breaking the trend of civil servants heading the job.

Samanta is 55 years old and he holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Mumbai and Master of Statistics from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. He will replace 1986-batch IAS officer Kshatrapati Shivaji. Shivaji holds additional charge as chief statistician, besides being secretary in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions.

He joined the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)