The Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCoS) has been established with enhanced terms of reference.
The SCoS will review economic indicators related to industrial and services sectors, as well as labor force statistics.
The committee will focus on high-frequency data like the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and conduct surveys like the Economic Census and Periodic Labour Force Survey.
The SCoS has a broader mandate to advise the Ministry on existing surveys, identify data gaps, propose ways to fill them, and conduct pilot surveys and studies for better data capture.
The new committee is half the size of the previous 28-member panel responsible for reviewing economic data.
The SCoS includes experts like Mr. Sen, along with seven academics from esteemed institutions.
The SCoS can proactively work on issues beyond surveys and provide guidance to the Ministry in diverse areas.
The credibility of some of the National Statistical Office's (NSO) data, particularly household surveys by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), has been questioned in recent years.
The government's decision to discard survey results due to "data quality issues" has raised concerns about credibility.
Fresh Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) results may take time to be finalized, causing reliance on outdated data for key economic indicators.
The SCoS can advise the Statistics Ministry on individual surveys and data sets, address issues related to survey results and methodology, and sensitize data users about nuanced interpretation of numbers.
The SCoS and the National Statistical Commission must work to rebuild the credibility of India's official statistics and bridge the trust deficit surrounding data.
COMMENTS