By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 22, 2018: IN response to the need for ensuring quality in the Official Statistics being produced in all levels of Government so that public trust in official statistics is maintained, the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has notified “General Guidelines on Quality Assurance for Official Statistics”. These Guidelines are for use and voluntary compliance by all the offices dealing with statistical matters including administrative statistics.

These Guidelines are useful to producers of official statistics in designing any statistical collection or product. These are also helpful to users in making informed decisions regarding the use of statistical products since the framework enables an assessment whether the statistics produced are fit for use, or are of an acceptable level of quality for their purposes.

All statistical agencies at the Centre and in the States/UTs have been advised to follow the guidelines, and bring these to the notice of all line Departments and Local Governments to improve the quality of their official statistical products. The agencies have also been advised to place in the public domain the manner of compliance with the Guidelines.