 Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, June 29: Dr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, today, attended the 20th Statistics Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. Addressing the 20th Statistics Day celebrations Dr. P.K. Mishra paid tribute to Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis on his birth anniversary, recalling his seminal contribution to building India's statistical system and underscoring the enduring importance of robust statistics for informed governance. Congratulating the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on the release of its Vision Document 2026-31, the Progress Report on the Sustainable Development Goals, and the first city-level estimates of labour markets and informal enterprises, he also felicitated Professor Arup Bose on receiving the Sukhatme National Award.
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of data-driven governance and Viksit Bharat @2047, Dr. Mishra said, "This year's Statistics Day theme, 'Unlocking the Potential of Administrative Data' reflects a transformative step towards strengthening India's statistical ecosystem and evidence-based policymaking" is very relevant and timely.
Recalling India's pioneering role in the field of statistics, Dr. P.K. Mishra said the country built one of the world's finest survey-based statistical systems in the 1950s, with the National Sample Survey emerging as a globally acclaimed model that shaped research and policymaking across the developing world. "The visionary contributions of Professor P.C. Mahalanobis, who founded the Indian Statistical Institute and the journal Sankhya laid the foundation for modern statistical science in India and his ideas informed the Second Five-Year Plan", he highlighted. Reflecting on his own academic experience, Dr. Mishra noted that Indian statistical data and methodologies have long been valued by leading international researchers and paid tribute to the enduring contributions of eminent statisticians such as Professor C.R. Rao and Professor P.V. Sukhatme, whose pioneering work continues to influence the discipline globally.
Speaking on the modernisation of India's statistical system, Dr. P.K. Mishra acknowledged that after decades of excellence, the system had faced challenges relating to outdated datasets, delays in data dissemination, fragmented statistical architecture, uneven data quality and declining professional capacity. "These concerns prompted a comprehensive reform exercise led by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) through extensive consultations with experts, key institutions and stakeholders. Based on these deliberations, MoSPI accepted 216 recommendations for time-bound implementation under an institutional oversight mechanism", he added. Dr. Mishra highlighted that the reforms have already led to the introduction of new and user demand-based surveys, updating of macroeconomic indicators, improved data dissemination, and significant procedural and process-oriented reforms, laying the foundation for a more robust, credible and future-ready statistical system. |
