Government of India Forms New Standing Committee on Statistics to Enhance Oversight of NSO Data

In a recent development, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) of the Government of India has taken a significant step by replacing the existing Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES) with a more comprehensive entity called the Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS). This new committee has been entrusted with a broader mandate, involving the review of both the framework and outcomes of all surveys conducted under the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The Statistical Setup of the Government of India:

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) came into existence in 1999 after the merger of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. It consists of two wings: the Statistics Wing and the Programme Implementation Wing. The Statistics Wing includes the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the Computer Center, and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Additionally, the National Statistical Commission (NSC) and the Indian Statistical Institute are also integral components of the statistical setup.

Responsibilities of the NSO:

The NSO, as the nodal agency for planned statistical development in India, shoulders several crucial responsibilities:

Coordination of statistical work across various Ministries and Departments of the Government.
Compilation of national accounts and publication of annual estimates of national product.
Collaboration with international statistical organizations such as UNSD, ESCAP, IMF, ADB, FAO, and ILO.
Regular release of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as ‘quick estimates.’
Conducting the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and providing statistical insights into the organized manufacturing sector’s growth and composition.
Organization of periodic all-India Economic Censuses and subsequent enterprise surveys.

The Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS):

The establishment of the SCoS holds key importance in enhancing the oversight of official data. The initiative stems from the critical evaluation of India’s statistical machinery by members of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister. The SCoS will fulfill a new internal oversight role, supplanting the previous SCES instituted in 2019. Notable points regarding the SCoS include:

Objective: The primary objective of the SCoS is to institute a robust internal oversight mechanism for official data, which marks a departure from the earlier SCES setup.
Need: The imperative to establish the SCoS arises from the voiced concerns about the expertise of the Indian Statistical Service in survey design. This overhaul was proposed by Bibek Debroy, the chairperson of the EAC.
Chairman: Pronab Sen, the first chief statistician of India and former NSC chairman, has been appointed as the chair of the newly formed committee.
Terms of Reference: The SCoS is empowered with a wide-ranging scope, with the potential to accommodate up to 16 members. Its responsibilities extend beyond economic data, encompassing advisory roles on technical aspects of all surveys, including sampling, design, methodology, and result finalization. Moreover, it will identify data gaps in official statistics and strategize their resolution, while also exploring the utilization of administrative statistics to enhance data quality.
Role of NSC: While the SCoS plays a pivotal role in finalizing survey outcomes, the ultimate authority to approve the publication of these results rests with the NSC.

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