By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 01, 2024: IN recognition of the notable contributions made by Professor (late) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics and economic planning, Government of India has designated June 29 every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary, as "Statistics Day" in the category of Special Days to be celebrated at the national level. The main objective of celebrating Statistics Day is creation of public awareness, especially among the younger generation, on the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation for development of the country.

Since 2007, Statistics Day is celebrated every year with a theme of contemporary national importance. The theme for Statistics Day, 2024 is "Use of data for decision-making". The concept of data driven decision making is important for making informed decisions in any field, and it is one of the pre-requisites for better understanding of statistical information, emanating from official statistics and for facilitating evidence-based decision making.

The main event of Statistics Day, 2024 was organized at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantt., New Delhi. The Chief Guest, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Chairman, 16 th  Finance Commission addressed the gathering. He narrated the role played by Prof. P.C.Mahalanobis in shaping the Indian Statistical System. He also urged that India should continue its data driven policy making in order to move along its development trajectory.  

Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar , Chairman, National Statistical Commission and Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI also addressed the participants on this occasion. Chairman, NSC, emphasized the need to make the data more accessible and usable, and suggested that Ministry's efforts on leveraging Information Technology for producing data needs to continue. He also stressed upon the need of the interoperability and linking of databases generated by various agencies through coordination among stakeholders. Secretary, MoSPI while addressing the audience highlighted the recent initiatives of the Ministry for reducing time-lag in survey data like Computer-Aided Personal Interview (CAPI), new surveys, user engagement exercise and the newly launched eSankhyiki portal. He hoped the spirit of Statistics Day will continue to inspire the statistical personnel and planners for data driven decision making.

Senior officers of Central Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments, representatives of international organizations viz. UN agencies, World Bank, etc. and other stakeholders also participated in the event. The event was also web-cast/live streamed through the social media handles of the Ministry. On this occasion, the winners of ‘On the Spot Essay Writing Competition, 2024' for Post- Graduate Students were also felicitated.

During the technical session, Dr. Ajay Kumar, ex-Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, addressed the gathering on the importance of data in governance. He highlighted the importance of data in the dynamically changing digital age and the increasing role and scope of MoSPI. This was followed by a presentation on global experience of using data for decision making by Mr. Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva, Global Director for the World Bank Group's poverty and equity global practice.  He emphasized that data is an essential infrastructure for effective policy making, while sharing prevalent global practices.

Based on the updated Sustainable Development Goals - National Indicator Framework (SDGs- NIF), every year MoSPI releases the Progress Report on SDGs with time series data on Statistics Day (i.e., on 29th June) along with two handbooks which are derived from the progress report. Accordingly, following three reports were released during the event:

i. Sustainable Development Goals - National Indicator Framework Progress Report, 2024'

ii. ‘Data Snapshot on Sustainable Development Goals- National Indicator Framework, 2024'

iii. ‘Sustainable Development Goals- National Indicator Framework, 2024'

These reports can be accessed at the MoSPI's website (www.mospi.gov.in). The time series data on the SDG indicators are downloadable in MS excel format from the report.

The Ministry launched an eSankhyiki portal (https://esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in) with the objective to establish a comprehensive data management and sharing system for ease of dissemination of official statistics in the country. The portal can also be accessed through the website of MoSPI (https://mospi.gov.in/). It is to provide timely inputs for planners, policy-makers, researchers and the public at large. The eSankhyiki Portal has two sections facilitating easy access and re-use of data, namely:

i. Data Catalogue:  The catalogue lists the major data assets of the Ministry such as National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, Annual Survey of Industries, Periodic Labour Force Survey and Household Consumption Expenditure Survey at one place.

ii. Macro Indicators:  It offers time series data of key macro indicators with features for filtering and visualization. It also allows users to download custom datasets, visualizations and accessing them through APIs, thereby increasing the re-usability of data. At present, this section includes four major products of MoSPI: National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, and Annual Survey of Industries, encompassing the data of last ten years.