Government forms review committee to examine Indian Statistical Institute’s status

The government has set up a Review Committee to evaluate the present status of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. The committee will be headed by former Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) director-general RA Mashelkar and will also include former chief statistician Pronab Sen. Apart from the six members, the panel compromises of four ex-officio members and one secretary.

The committee will review the functioning of ISI Kolkata and assess whether it fulfills its objectives as an institute of national importance. The Review Committee will examine the institute's performance over the last ten years and the scale of its research and non-research activities, according to an  Economic Times report.

The report quoted the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) notification, dated January 28, "The committee shall submit its report within six months from the date of issue of this notification."

The panel would also recommend suitable measures, including restructuring or reorganising resource requirement to enable the institute to play a more active role in economic and social development requirements of the country.

The report noted that the "terms of reference of the committee include a review of the non-research academic programmes" of the ISI, Kolkata. Course content, evaluation, fees, admission and incentivisation policy compromise of non-research academic programmes would be under review. It will also include collaboration with academic institutes within and outside the country as well as its administrative and governance structure.

The ministry said that the committee would, "review the extent and intensity of interaction/collaboration with government, industry and other organisations in the country, in contributing to country's economic and social development needs as also for meeting the supply-demand gap for statistical and analytical personnel."

The panel will also assess the ability of the ISI's financial resources, revenue-generating activities, government grants, and available physical assets – buildings, equipment and land –for the institute activities. After the review, it will conclude if any amendments to the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959 are necessary.