Govt should engage National Statistical Commission more actively: NSC chairman RL Karandikar

NSC Chairman

The government should engage the National Statistical Commission more actively to ensure the robustness of surveys, RL Karandikar, chairman of NSC, told Moneycontrol.

“The government needs to be more proactive in engaging the NSC for data across the board,” Karandikar said, highlighting that the statistical commission could play a larger role.

The comments come when the ministry has been looking at ways to improve the country's statistical framework.

The NSC, in the past, has not been consulted on certain surveys.

Earlier this year, it was highlighted that the body was not consulted while releasing the fact sheet of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, which is instrumental in determining a new base and basket for consumer inflation calculations.

The body was likely not consulted on the first survey on traditional medicine or AYUSH and the results of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE).

The NSC chairman noted that the purview can be extended beyond the Ministry of Statistics and programme implementation.

He cited the recent controversy around national examinations, like NEET, noting the body could give suggestions regarding the allocation of invigilators to make the process more robust.

The education ministry cancelled the UGC-NET  exam, which was used to determine eligibility for teaching positions at universities, research fellowships, and PhD admissions, a day after it was held over irregularities.

It has announced the formation of a high-level panel to review and improve the functioning of the National Testing Agency, which conducts these examinations.

The National Statistical Commission was set up after the recommendations of a commission headed by former RBI governor Dr C Rangarajan to provide direction to the national statistical system.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, in a report last year, had raised concerns regarding the data quality of surveys.

The ministry of statistics and programme implementation had reconstituted the Standing Committee on Statistics to advise on all surveys, with former chief statistician of India Pronab Sen as its chairman.

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

The first meeting of the committee was held in April.

Besides, the NSC also formed five panels to improve data quality and methodology and to suggest technology upgrades to the ministry.

“We are working to improve the quality of surveys and timeliness of data. We have done some work, but we can do much better,” the NSC chairman said.

At a recent event in Delhi, the newly appointed secretary had noted that the ministry was working towards increasing the frequency of surveys.

Sources informed Moneycontrol that the ministry is trying to release urban unemployment statistics monthly and rural statistics quarterly compared with the current timeline of quarterly and annual releases.

The ministry is also likely to take a call on base year revision of consumer inflation and GDP by the end of the year.