Indias Statistical System Suffers From Deficiencies

A good statistical system must be credible, timely and adequate, but the Indian statistical system suffers from serious deficiencies, said C Rangarajan, Andhra Pradesh Governor and former governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at the golden jubilee of the launch of the National Sample Survey (NSS).

Rangarajan said the country had gone from a highly controlled regime to a more liberalised economy, helping India integrate with the countries of the world.

These changes have larger implications that arise from

the collection and dissemination of data. This demands that

the data collection system be technologically sound and timely enough to make a difference to the policies that shape the country's economy.

 

While enumerating the achievements of NSS, he expressed some of the concerns that plague the data collection system in India and the possible solutions for them.

One of the problems that NSS faces is the emphasis on the sampling method as its primary tool for data collection. The cross-section that gets selected is often a section of public that is not clearly representing the problem at hand.

Another aspect that hampers efficiency is the timeliness of the data. Due to various drawbacks, it does not always get printed and circulated on time.

Here, he emphasised the need for state-of-the-art technologies like powerful computers and laptops, that will not only increase efficiency but also speed up the processing of data, making the circulation of results much faster.

Due to the rapid boom in the economy, it is essential that the data be adequate for decisions based on latest trends. But the inadequacies of the NSS in its data collection techniques do not allow for this progress, he said.