PRESENT STATISTICAL SYSTEM IN INDIA

The Indian Statistical System functions within the federal structure of the Government of
India. Responsibility for administration is divided between the central government and the
provincial or state governments. Under the Indian Constitution, duties are divided according
to a three-fold classification of all subjects to the Union List, the State List or the Concurrent
List. The last category, under which statistics is found, represents the areas where both the
Union and State Governments can operate. A further division of responsibility at the central
and state levels, by subjects or groups of subjects is among the different central ministries
and among the state government departments respectively. The authority and responsibility
for collection of statistics relating to a particular subject field is determined by the overall
responsibility for the subject under the Constitution. A process of aggregation of state-level
data obtains the national-level data for sectors that are state subjects. However, the central
government acts as the coordinating agency for presentation of statistics on an all-India basis
even in fields where the states have the primary authority and responsibility for collection of
statistics.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DATA IN STATISTICS

Data
The facts and figures which can be numerically measured are studied in statistics. Numerical
measures of same characteristic is known as observation and collection of observations is
termed as data. Data are collected by individual research workers or by organization through
sample surveys or experiments, keeping in view the objectives of the study. The data
collected may be:

1. Primary Data
2. Secondary Data

Primary and Secondary Data in Statistics

The difference between primary and secondary data in Statistics is that Primary data is
collected firsthand by a researcher (organization, person, authority, agency or party etc)
through experiments, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, conducting interviews and taking
(required) measurements, while the secondary data is readily available (collected by
someone else) and is available to the public through publications, journals and newspapers.
Primary Data
Primary data means the raw data (data without fabrication or not tailored data) which has
just been collected from the source and has not gone any kind of statistical treatment like
sorting and tabulation. The term primary data may sometimes be used to refer to first hand
information.

Sources of Primary Data

The sources of primary data are primary units such as basic experimental units, individuals,
households. Following methods are used to collect data from primary units usually and these
methods depends on the nature of the primary unit. Published data and the data collected in
the past is called secondary data.

1
 Personal Investigation

The researcher conducts the experiment or survey himself/herself and collected data from it.
The collected data is generally accurate and reliable. This method of collecting primary
data is feasible only in case of small scale laboratory, field experiments or pilot surveys and
is not practicable for large scale experiments and surveys because it take too much time.

 Through Investigators

The trained (experienced) investigators are employed to collect the required data. In case of
surveys, they contact the individuals and fill in the questionnaires after asking the required
information, where a questionnaire is an inquiry form having a number of questions designed
to obtain information from the respondents. This method of collecting data is usually
employed by most of the organizations and its gives reasonably accurate information but it is
very costly and may be time taking too.

 Through Questionnaire

The required information (data) is obtained by sending a questionnaire (printed or soft form)
to the selected individuals (respondents) (by mail) who fill in the questionnaire and return it
to the investigator. This method is relatively cheap as compared to “through investigator”
method but non-response rate is very high as most of the respondents don’t bother to fill in
the questionnaire and send it back to investigator.

 Through Local Sources

The local representatives or agents are asked to send requisite information who provide the
information based upon their own experience. This method is quick but it gives rough
estimates only.

 Through Telephone

The information may be obtained by contacting the individuals on telephone. Its a Quick and
provide accurate required information.

 Through Internet

With the introduction of information technology, the people may be contacted through
internet and the individuals may be asked to provide the pertinent information. Google survey
is widely used as online method for data collection now a day. There are many paid online
survey services too.

It is important to go through the primary data and locate any inconsistent observations
before it is given a statistical treatment.
Secondary Data
Data which has already been collected by someone, may be sorted, tabulated and has
undergone a statistical treatment. It is fabricated or tailored data.

2
 Sources of Secondary Data

The secondary data may be available from the following sources:

 Government Organizations

Federal and Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Crop Reporting Service-Agriculture Department,

Census and Registration Organization etc

 Semi-Government Organization

Municipal committees, District Councils, Commercial and Financial Institutions like banks
etc

 Teaching and Research Organizations

 Research Journals and Newspapers
 Internet

EDITING OF DATA
Data editing is defined as the process involving the review and adjustment of
collected survey data. The purpose is to control the quality of the collected data. [1] Data
editing can be performed manually, with the assistance of a computer or a combination of
both.
Editing Methods:
1. Interactive editing
The term interactive editing is commonly used for modern computer-assisted manual editing.
Most interactive data editing tools applied at National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) allow one
to check the specified edits during or after data entry, and if necessary to correct erroneous
data immediately. Several approaches can be followed to correct erroneous data:

 Recontact the respondent

 Compare the respondent's data to his data from previous year
 Compare the respondent's data to data from similar respondents
 Use the subject matter knowledge of the human editor
Interactive editing is a standard way to edit data. It can be used to edit
both categorical and continuous data. Interactive editing reduces the time frame needed to
complete the cyclical process of review and adjustment.
2. Selective editing
Selective editing is an umbrella term for several methods to identify the influential
errors, and outliers. Selective editing techniques aim to apply interactive editing to a well-
chosen subset of the records, such that the limited time and resources available for interactive
editing are allocated to those records where it has the most effect on the quality of the final
estimates of publication figures. In selective editing, data is split into two streams:

 The critical stream

 The non-critical stream
The critical stream consists of records that are more likely to contain influential errors. These
critical records are edited in a traditional interactive manner. The records in the non-critical
3
stream which are unlikely to contain influential errors are not edited in a computer assisted
manner.
3. Macro editing
There are two methods of macro editing:
Aggregation method
This method is followed in almost every statistical agency before publication: verifying
whether figures to be published seem plausible. This is accomplished by comparing
quantities in publication tables with same quantities in previous publications. If an unusual
value is observed, a micro-editing procedure is applied to the individual records and fields
contributing to the suspicious quantity.[7]
Distribution method
Data available is used to characterize the distribution of the variables. Then all individual
values are compared with the distribution. Records containing values that could be
considered uncommon (given the distribution) are candidates for further inspection and
possibly for editing.[8]
4. Automatic editing
In automatic editing records are edited by a computer without human intervention [9]. Prior
knowledge on the values of a single variable or a combination of variables can be formulated
as a set of edit rules which specify or constrain the admissible values

NATIONAL STATISTICAL COMMISSION (NSC)

Background

 A Commission set up by the Government in January 2000 under the Chairmanship of

Dr. C. Rangarajan reviewed the statistical system and the entire gamut of Official
Statistics in the country. The Rangarajan Commission submitted its report to the
Government in August 2001. One of the key recommendations of this Commission
was to establish a permanent National Commission on Statistics to serve as a nodal
and empowered body for all core statistical activities of the country, evolve, monitor
and enforce statistical priorities and standards and to ensure statistical co-ordination
among the different agencies involved. The Rangarajan Commission also
recommended that the Commission be set up initially through a Government order.
 In line with the recommendations of the Rangarajan Commission, on 1st June 2005,
the Government of India resolved to set up a National Statistical Commission (NSC).
The Commission has a part-time Chairperson, four part-time Members and an ex-
officio Member. The Chief Statistician of India, the post created specifically as the
Head of the National Statistical Office is the Secretary of the Commission. He is also
the Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation.

Functions of NSC

 To reduce the problems faced by statistical agencies in the country in relation to

collection of data.
 To evolve standard statistical concepts, definitions, classifications and methodologies
in different areas in statistics.
4
  To evolve measures for improving public trust in official statistics.
 To exercise statistical co-ordination between Ministries, Departments and other
agencies of the Central Government.
 To monitor and review the functioning of the statistical system in the light of the laid
down policies, standards and methodologies and recommend measures for enhanced
performance.

The terms of reference for the National Statistical Commission were as follows:

(i) To examine critically the deficiencies of the present statistical system in terms of
timeliness, reliability and adequacy;
(ii) To recommend measures to correct the deficiencies and revamp the statistical system to
generate timely and reliable statistics for the purpose of policy and planning in
Government at different levels of administrative structure;
(iii) To recommend permanent and effective coordinating mechanisms for ensuring integrated
development of the decentralized statistical system in the country;
(iv) To review the existing legislation for the collection of statistical information and to
recommend amendments, where necessary, to achieve the objective of collection and
dissemination of timely, reliable and adequate statistics;
(v) To review the existing organisation of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme
Implementation (Statistics Wing) and other statistical units of the Government and to
make recommendations on their staffing and training requirements to enable them to cope
with the increase and development of statistical services;
(vi) To examine the need for instituting statistical audit of the range of services provided by
the Government and local bodies and make suitable recommendations thereof; and
(vii) To recommend any other measures for improving the statistical system in the country.

COCSSO

Background

In order to strengthen the coordination of statistical activities among the Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation, other Central Ministries and State Statistical Organisations,
the Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (COCSSO) was organized for
the first time in the year 1971.Earlier it was supposed to be organized once in every two
years. keeping in view the usefulness of the Conference, it has now been decided to have it
every year.

Objectives

The objectives of the conference are:

 To provide a platform for discussion on the statistical issues of common interest to the
Central and the State Statistical Organistions;
 To provide an overall perspective to the development of statistical system and to
make recommendations/suggestions on issues having bearing on the development of
the statistical system;
 To solve the technical issues relating to statistics;
 To set up Working Groups on specific issues/tasks relating to official statistics;
 To provide guidelines in the collection of statistics and maintenance of statistical
standards and quality, besides uniformity in statistical standards;

5
  To consider the Action Taken Report of the follow up action on the recommendations
of the previous meetings(s) of COCSSO; and
 To review the role of the Statistical Advisers in the Central and States/UT
Governments.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

POPULATION STATISTICS
a) Census
The population census is an official count of all the people either physically present or
regularly residing in a given region at a given point of time. It also includes within its scope
the collection of information on various aspects of the people counted -- such as age, sex,
race, religion, marital status, educational level attained, etc.
b) Registration of Vital Events
The traditional source of statistics on births and deaths in India is the statutory registration of
these events. The registration of births and deaths was made compulsory and uniform all over
the country through Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1969.
i) Census Handbook (Data on Administrative Units and Key Population Statistics India
States and Districts)
The District Census Handbook (DCHB) is an important publication of the Census
Organization since 1951. It contains both Census and non Census data of urban and rural
areas for each District.
 The Census data provide information on demographic and socio-economic
characteristics of population at the lowest administrative unit i.e. of each Village,
Town and Ward of the District.
 The non Census data presented in the DCHB is in the form of Village Directory and
Town Directory contain information on various infrastructure facilities available in
the village and town viz; education, medical, drinking water, communication and
transport, post and telegraph, electricity, banking, and other miscellaneous facilities.
ii) Vital Statistics of India (Based on Civil Registration System)
This issue of the Report on ‘Vital Statistics of India’ based on the Civil Registration System
provides an overview of the working of the Civil Registration System (CRS) in the country.
The publication is divided into two parts:
 Part I provides a brief review of the Civil Registration System and contains a
summary analysis of data on registered births, deaths, infant deaths and sex ratio at
birth at State level.
 Part II incorporates the main tables which provide State and District-wise data on
registered births, deaths and infant deaths with rural-urban & sex-wise break-up and
sex ratio at birth.
iii) Sample registration system
The SRS is based on a system of dual recording of births and deaths in fairly representative
sample units spread all over the country. Sampling design, registration and validation

6
methodology of the SRS has been published. The sampling frame is revised every ten years
and old sample clusters are replaced by new ones.
Main publication of the SRS is the Annual Report, which provides annual estimates of:
 Population composition
 Fertility
 Mortality and
 Medical attention at the time of birth or death.

INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS
Statistics of industrial production in India may be considered under two heads :
a) Statistics relating to the factory/organised sector
b) Statistics relating to the non-factory/unorganised sector
The factory sector covers industrial units registered under the Factories Act,1948.
The non factory sector covers households and non-household units which are not registered
under the above said Act.
i) Annual Survey of Industries
The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is the principal source of industrial statistics in India.
It provides statistical information to assess and evaluate, objectively and realistically, the
changes in the growth, composition and structure of organized manufacturing sector
comprising activities related to manufacturing processes, repair services, gas and water
supply and cold storage.
The Survey is conducted annually under the statutory provisions of the Collection of
Statistics Act 2008, and the Rules framed there-under in 2011, except Jammu and Kashmir.
ii) Handbook of Industrial Policy and Statistics
Handbook of Industrial Policy and Statistics presents exhaustive data on various aspects of
industrial development. It covers the following :
 Trend of growth of infrastructure industries, comprising of crude, petroleum refinery
products, electricity, coal, finished steel and cement.
 Time series data on exports and imports, with particular reference to manufacturing.
 Data on employment and industrial relations.
 Macro data on GDP, Capital Formation, Consumption, Savings, and Population, etc.
 Trends in prices along with basic information on Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
 Data on technical manpower and R&D furnished by Department of Science &
Technology.

THE STATE’S STATISTICAL SYSTEM

7
 The Statistical System in the states is similar to that at the centre. In other words, it
is decentralized laterally over the departments of the state government, with major
Departments, such as, Agriculture or Health, having large statistical divisions for the work
of departmental statistics. At the apex level is the Directorate (formerly Bureau) of
Economics and Statistics (DES), which is formally responsible for the coordination of
statistical activities in the State. The DESs have large organisations at headquarters, with
statistical offices in the districts and, in some cases, in the regions of the state. The
statistical activity of the DESs is more or less uniform. They publish statistical abstracts and
handbooks of the states, annual economic reviews or surveys, district statistical abstracts,
and state budget analysis; work out the estimates of the State Domestic Product and engage
in such other statistical activities as is relevant to the state. Most of them participate at least
on a matching sample basis in the national Sample Survey Programme, and some of them
carry out an Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for factories not covered by the ASI of the
NSSO. District Statistical Offices (DSO) are primarily entrusted with the task of checking
up primary data and building up databases for micro-level planning. Block statistical
agencies exist in most of the states for maintenance of records at village level, submission of
reports and returns. Generally, the states do not have a common statistical cadre. The
Directorate of Economics and Statistics in the states liases with the CSO for purpose of
coordination at all-India level.

Thus, the Indian Statistical System is a system built upwards from district offices to
the state government departments, and from there to the corresponding ministries at the
centre. It is a collection of state-level systems forming a national system. In the current
context, making the national system the starting point, from the perspective of an inverted
view the system can be described as laterally decentralized among the Ministries of the
Government of India (GOI), and in every one of them, vertically decentralized, between the
centre and the states. The main features of the Indian Statistical System can be thus
summarized as:

(a) The Administrative Statistics System is its major component;

(b) It is laterally and vertically decentralized;
(c) In it, not only data collection but also compilation, processing and preparation of
results are carried out by the states for most of the sectors; and
(d) It is the State-wise results, which flow to the Centre, and statistics at the all-India
level are obtained as the aggregates of State-level statistics.

NSSO

The National Sample Survey Office(NSSO) in India is a unique setup to carry out
surveys on socio-economic, demographic, agricultural and industrial subjects for collecting
data from house holds and from enterprises located in villages and in the towns. It is a focal
agency of the Govt. of India for collection of statistical data in the areas which are vital for
developmental planning. The National Sample Survey Directorate was first setup in the
country in the ministry of finance in 1950. The directorate was subsequently transferred to
the cabinet secretariat in 1957 and subsequently in 1970 it became a part of NSSO in the
department of statistics under the ministry of planning. Since 1999 it is under the newly
created Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation(MOSPI).

The NSSO has four divisions

1) Survey Design and Research (SDR)

8
 2) Field Operations Division (FOD)
3) Data Processing
4) Economic Analysis.

Objectives of NSSO:
 To provide statistical and other information for the purpose of state or national
planning and policy requirements.
 To evolve statistical techniques for the analysis of statistical data, the solutions of
administrative problems and estimation of future trends.
 To collect and publish information which will be of use to those engaged in economic
activities in the country.
 To provide and analyse information which are useful to research workers in
socioeconomic fields.

Functions of NSSO:
 To conduct large scale sample surveys on subjects like household consumer
expenditure, employment and unemployment, health and medical services etc.
 It decides the topics to be covered in a particular survey round.
 Agricultural wing of FOD, NSSO has the overall responsibility of assisting the states
by developing suitable survey techniques for obtaining reliable and timely estimates
of crop yield.

STATISTICS WING, MOSPI

The Statistics Wing of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoS&PI)
consists of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), National Sample Survey Organisation
(NSSO), and Computer Centre. This is the apex body in the official statistical system of the
country.

The Statistics Wing is mandated with the following responsibilities:

1. acts as the nodal agency for planned development of the statistical system in the country
2. lays down and maintains norms and standards in the field of statistics
3. coordinates the statistical work in respect of the Ministries/Departments of the Government
of India and State Statistical Bureaus (SSBs)
4. prepares national accounts (including Gross Domestic Product) as well as publishes annual
estimates of national product, Government and Private final consumption expenditure,
Capital Formation, Savings, etc. and comparable estimates of State Domestic Product (SDP)
5. compiles and releases Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers and Annual Inflation rates based
on these CPI numbers
6. maintains liaison with International Statistical Organizations, such as, the United Nations
Statistical Division (UNSD), ESCAP, the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP),
IMF, ADB, FAO, ILO, etc
7. compiles and brings out reports as per the international/regional commitments such as
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) India Country Report and SAARC Development
Goals India Country Report
8. compiles and releases the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) every month; conducts the
Annual Survey of Industries (ASI); and provides statistical information to assess and evaluate
the changes in the growth, composition and structure of the organised manufacturing sector

9
9. organises and conducts periodic all-India Economic Censuses and follow-up enterprise
surveys
10. conducts large scale all-India sample surveys for creating the database needed for studying
the impact of specific problems for the benefit of different population groups in diverse
socio-economic areas, such as employment, consumer expenditure, housing conditions and
environment, literacy levels, health, nutrition, family welfare, etc.

COCSSO

Background

In order to strengthen the coordination of statistical activities among the Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation, other Central Ministries and State Statistical Organisations,
the Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (COCSSO) was organized for
the first time in the year 1971.Earlier it was supposed to be organized once in every two
years. keeping in view the usefulness of the Conference, it has now been decided to have it
every year.

Objectives

The objectives of the conference are:

 To provide a platform for discussion on the statistical issues of common interest to the
Central and the State Statistical Organistions;
 To provide an overall perspective to the development of statistical system and to
make recommendations/suggestions on issues having bearing on the development of
the statistical system;
 To solve the technical issues relating to statistics;
 To set up Working Groups on specific issues/tasks relating to official statistics;
 To provide guidelines in the collection of statistics and maintenance of statistical
standards and quality, besides uniformity in statistical standards;
 To consider the Action Taken Report of the follow up action on the recommendations
of the previous meetings(s) of COCSSO; and
 To review the role of the Statistical Advisers in the Central and States/UT
Governments.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY NSC

The National Statistical Commission has submitted its report to the Government in September
2001and its recommendations are under consideration. The major recommendations of the National
Statistical Commission are:
1. For reform of administration of the Indian Statistical System by upgrading its infrastructure and
thereby enhancing the credibility of official statistics, the Commission is of the view that an
independent statistical authority, free from political interference, having power to set priorities
with respect to Core Statistics, is needed to ensure quality standards of statistical processes. The
Commission has recommended the creation of a permanent and statutory apex body – National
Commission on Statistics (NCS) – through an Act of Parliament, independent of the Government
in respect of policy-making coordination and maintaining quality standards of Core Statistics.
The NCS will have a Chairman and four Expert Members all of whom would be eminent

10
 statisticians or social scientists and they will act on the advice of a number of technical
committees on various subject areas.
2. The presence of administrative machinery within the Government is necessary to implement and
sustain the policies evolved by the proposed NCS. The Commission has proposed a restructuring
of the existing Statistics Wing of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation into a
full-fledged Department of the Ministry to be known hereafter as the National Statistical
Organisation (NSO). The head of the NSO will be the National Statistician and will be the
Secretary to the Government of India. He or she will also be the Secretary to the National
Commission on Statistics. The NSO will comprise three offices and one wing namely, the Central
Statistical Office, National Sample Survey Office, Data Storage and Dissemination Office and
Consultancy Wing. These bodies will implement and maintain statistical standards as laid down
by the NCS, compile National Accounts, facilitate national and international coordination, publish
Core Statistics, the conduct of methodological research and studies, and also arrange the training
of statistical personnel and maintenance of a data warehouse for Core Statistics.
3. A lack of coordination among the different ministries and departments of the Central Government
leads ultimately to poor and unproductive statistical advice to the concerned administrative
ministries and departments. To remedy this situation, the Commission recommends the
appointment of statistical advisers in important ministries and departments in order to make
available sound statistical inputs and advice for the purposes of policy formulation and decision-
making under the technical guidance of the National Statistician.
4. To improve the coordination within the State statistical systems, the State Directorates of
Economics and Statistics must be made responsible for technical coordination with all State
Departments in respect of the content, methodology and dissemination of statistics. The
Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations is another instrument, which would
provide a forum for regular interaction among the central and State statisticians. A similar forum
for a meeting of State Departmental Statisticians should be created by the State Governments to
review the performance of the statistical system of each State.
5. The enhanced role of the DES and the wider technical discussion of the State’s Statisticians will
help State Governments take a holistic view of the State’s Statistical System to enhance its utility
to the State Governments and indirectly to achieve the same result at the Centre. In some of the
States, as the statistical cadres are generally fragmented, the constitution of an organized State
Statistical Cadre is urgently required.
6. The system lacks legal backing for statistical activities. The present Collection of Statistics Act
1953 is weak. In addition to ensuring the reliability of statistics and the efficiency of operations, a
strong Act, in accordance with the federal structure of the country, should also take into account
the informants’ rights to privacy. Recognizing the role of Information Technology for processing,
transmission and dissemination of Data, the Commission has recommended the establishment of
strong communications links between the NSO and all other related statistical offices including of
the States’ statistical offices through one or more Internet service providers or virtual private
network.
7. The implementation of recommendations of the National Statistical Commission in improving the
credibility, adequacy and timeliness of the statistical system of the country has financial
implications. On the request of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, the
Department of Economic Affairs took up the project of Modernisation of Statistical System in
India with the World Bank. A number of meetings between officials of the Government of India
and the Appraisal Mission of the World Bank have already taken place. Assistance of US$200
million has been sought from the World Bank for the project. The project is in the process of
finalization.

STATISTICAL AUDIT

11
Statistical audit is necessary to assure the user not only of the quality of data presented, but
also of the soundness of concepts, definitions and of the entire system of collection,
processing, summarisation and dissemination of data. Currently, the CSO is responsible for
setting up standards in respect of concepts and definitions, but there is no system of
certification of either the process of generation, or the generated statistics. It is envisaged that
the proposed National Commission on Statistics would be formally responsible for
certification of the ‘quality’ of Core Statistics generated by the official statistical system,
including the data collected through administrative records, surveys and censuses and would
get this accomplished departmentally through the NSO. Certification of the quality of
statistics may be extended to private producers of statistics on a voluntary basis.

Determinants of Quality of Statistics

The three most important determinants of the quality of statistics are validity,
reliability and timeliness. Validity is concerned with the relevance of the collected statistics
to the subject of the study. Reliability is assessed in terms of the extent to which the data are
free from sampling and non-sampling errors. Statistics are timely if they are available when
they are needed.

Internal and External Audit

Concurrent audit of statistical activities is necessary for early detection of errors and mistakes
during the progress of work, and their rectification in time. This is essentially an internal
activity of the data-collecting organisation. Assessment and certification of the quality of the
end product are done through an audit - by an external authorised auditor - of the final results
embodied in a report and other related records and documents. The most important amongst
all the items of information that should be made available for such an audit are listed below.

Items for Audit

A fairly long but not exhaustive list of items, which could be audited is given below:

(a)Theoretical concepts and their modification into operationally feasible definitions,

covering individual respondents, population of such respondents, sampling unit and
information unit, frame and its adequacy, information to be collected from the
respondents, etc.

(b)Methods of data collection and handling: Interview, Direct observation or measurement,

copied from records, mail enquiry, etc.; Steps to avoid respondents' or interviewers' bias;
Treatment of sensitive questions; Deliberate redundancy to check consistency of
information; Data transcription and scrutiny; Classification and coding; Choice of
reference period and survey period; Design of questionnaire or schedule; Instruction
manual.

(c)In the case of secondary data acquired from administrative records – design of the form for
recording and summarising, incomplete coverage and treatment of missing data,
definitional consistency, checks on arithmetical errors.

(d)Sampling design: uni-stage or multi-stage, procedure for stratification and selection at very
stage; Formula for estimation of parameters.

12
(e)Procedure for control and assessment of sampling and non-sampling errors; Manual and
computerised procedures of scrutiny and editing of data; Methods for imputation of
missing or rejected observations.

(f) Data handling errors - Errors in data capture, editing, coding of open-ended textual
responses, data processing, etc.

CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE (CSO)

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is a governmental agency in India under the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation responsible for co-ordination of statistical
activities in India, and evolving and maintaining statistical standards. It has a well-equipped
Graphical Unit. The CSO is located in Delhi. Some portion of Industrial Statistics work
pertaining to Annual Survey of industries is carried out in Calcutta.
The CSO is headed by the Director-General who is assisted by Five additional Director-
Generals and four Deputy Director-Generals, six Joint Directors,seven special task
officers,thirty deputy directors, 48 assistant directors and other supporting staff. The CSO is
located in Delhi. The CSO was set up in the cabinet secretariat on 2 May 1951.

The main activities of CSO are:

• Coordinating the statistical activities of various Central Government departments and State
Governments.
• Acting as a coordinator and advisor in statistical matters to the Centre and States.
• Collecting, compiling and publishing statistical data on all India basis for the Centre and
States
• Providing statistical information to Planning Commission for the development of 5-years
plans.
• Providing training to personnels in statistical departments of Government.
• Standardizing the concepts, definitions, classifications and methodology of collecting data
from different sources.
• Compilation and publication of National Income Statistics
• Publishing of all industry related statistical information.
• Providing statistical information to the offices of the United Nations.
• Conducting Economic Censuses and related surveys.
• Compilation of Index of Industrial Production
• Compilation of consumer price indices for Urban Non-Manual Employees.
• Compilation of Human Development Statistics and Gender Statistics.
• Dissemination of Statistical Information.
• Analyzing work relating to Trade, Energy, Construction and Environment Statistics,
• Coordination of Statistical Activities
 Compilation of National Accounts Statistics (NAS)

The activities of CSO were further extended with the merging of two major units, which are:
(a) National Information Unit in 1954.
(a) The Directorate of Industrial Statistics in 1957, which is now working as Industrial
Statistics Wing. In 1961, CSO was brought under the Ministry of Statistics in
the Cabinet Secretariat.

DIVISIONS:

13
 The Central Statistics Office coordinates the statistical activities in the country and evolves
statistical standards. It is headed by a Director General assisted by 5 Additional Director
Generals. CSO has the following Divisions:
1. National Accounts Division (NAD): This Division is responsible for the preparation of
national accounts, which includes Gross Domestic Product, Government and Private Final
Consumption Expenditure, Fixed Capital Formation and other macro-economic aggregates.
The Division brings out an annual publication, titled “National Accounts Statistics”,
containing these statistics. Other important activities of the Division are: (i) preparation of
quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current and constant prices, (ii)
estimation of Capital Stock and Consumption of Fixed Capital, (iii) estimation of State-wise
Gross Value Added and Gross Fixed Capital Formation of supra-regional sectors of
Railways, Communication, Banking & Insurance and Central Government Administration
(iv) Input-Output Transaction Tables (IOTT) and (v) preparation of comparable estimates of
State Domestic Product (SDP).
2. Social Statistics Division (SSD): This Division is entrusted with Statistical monitoring of the
Millennium Development Goals, Environmental Economic Accounting, Grant-in-aid for
research, workshop/seminars/conferences in Official/Applied Statistics,
National/International awards for Statisticians, National Data Bank (NDB) on socioreligious
categories, Basic Statistics for Local Level Development (BSLLD) Pilot scheme, Time-use
survey and release of regular and ad-hoc statistical publications.
3. Economic Statistics Division (ESD): This Division conducts Economic Censuses and
Annual Surveys of Industries (ASI), compiles All India Index of Industrial Production(IIP),
Energy Statistics and Infrastructure Statistics, and develops classifications like, National
Industrial Classification (NIC) and National Product Classification (NPC)
4. Training Division: This Division is primarily responsible for the training manpower in
theoretical and applied statistics to tackle the emerging challenges of data collection,
collation, analysis and dissemination required for evidence based policy making as also for
planning, monitoring and evaluation. The Division also looks after the National Statistical
Systems Training Academy (NSSTA), which is a premier Institute fostering human resource
development in official statistics in India as well as at international level, particularly
amongst developing and SAARC countries.
5. Coordination and Publications Division (CAP): The Division looks after co-ordination
work within CSO as well as with the line Ministries and State/UT Governments in statistical
matters, organizes Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (COCSSO) and
‘Statistics Day’ every year, prepares Results Framework Document (RFD), Citizens’/Clients’
Charter and Annual Action Plan, Outcome Budget and Annual Plan of the Ministry. The
Division is also responsible for implementation of Capacity Development Scheme and
Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS) , a Central Sector Scheme aimed at improving the
Statistical Capacity and Infrastructure of the State Statistical System for Collecting,
Compiling and Disseminating relevant and reliable official statistics for policy making and to
promote their usage at the State/District and Block Levels. It is a nodal Division for
administering the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 and coordination of follow-up on the
implementation of recommendations of NSC recommendations. The administrative work
relating to Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is also looked after by CAP Division.

NAD-Publications related to national income estimates

 National Accounts Statistics (annual) – latest 2011

 National Account Statistics (in the accounting framework of SNA 1993) -2010
 National Accounts Statistics, Back Series from 1950-51 to 1998-99
 Input Output Transactions Table (5-yearly) – latest 2003-04
 National Accounts Statistics - Sources and Methods
14
  National Accounts Statistics – Factor Incomes
 State Domestic Product – Industry- wise (State Series), New Series
 State Domestic Product – Industry- wise (State Series), Old Series
 Statewise agricultural output by crops
 State wise estimates of value of output from agriculture and livestock
 Statewise estimates of value of output from mining and quarrying

Information Technology in The Indian Statistical System

Historical Background

Before the introduction of electronic computers in India, Unit Record Machines with
80-column Punched Cards as the medium of data-input were extensively in use during the
late forties at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) for processing of survey data. The first-ever
electronic computer in India - the Hollerith Electronic Computer Model 2M (HEC 2M) from
the UK was installed for statistical use at ISI in 1949. Limited input-output capabilities of this
and the next computer - the Russian URAL II installed at the ISI made them unsuitable for
survey data processing. These were used mainly for complex calculations in other types of
statistical applications. Use of computers in the special tabulation work of the NSS began at
ISI in 1965 on the more versatile IBM 1401 computer system.
A Computer Centre was created in the Department of Statistics in 1967. The
Computer Centre was initially equipped with a Honeywell-400 computer system. It was used
for the processing of survey data and for providing computing support to various ministries
and departments of the Government of India.
Later, with the growth in demands on the use of Information Technology (IT) tools,
the Government of India established the Department of Electronics (DoE) and the National
Informatics Centre as part of DoE to cater to the needs of different ministries and
departments of the Government. The nodal role of the Computer Centre was changed and this
was to cater mainly to the need of Department of Statistics.
Earlier, the DPD procured 108 data entry machines of type D20 and three small
computers of model UPTRON S-1650 for data cleaning. The DPD was responsible for data
transcription and cleaning on the above equipment – later on the newly-acquired Personal
Computers (PCs) – and the final tabulation was done on the mainframe H-400 computer at
Computer Centre. This was not much of a success mainly because of problems of
communication between the Computer Centre and the DPD located at two distant places.
This procedure continued up to 50th Round (survey period: July 1993-June 1994).

Current Status
A new approach was taken for the processing of NSS data from the 51st Round
onwards. The entire responsibility was given to the DPD, relieving the Computer Centre of
any responsibility in the matter. The Data Preparation Centres of DPD were to transcribe data
from schedules in small batches and generate error reports using a set of in-house software
developed by the Division. After manual cleaning of the data by the Data Preparation
Centres, these were sent to the DPD (Headquarters) located at Kolkata for automated scrutiny
and final tabulation. With this new approach of in-house tabulation of data by the DPD,
backlog in tabulation and report writing work has now been completely wiped out by the
NSSO.
Besides routine data processing, computers are used in sample selection and as a
desktop printing device in preparing manuals, presentation of tables, etc.
With the advent of PCs, statistical computation in the Department of Statistics has
been largely decentralised. From the reference year 1995-96, summary and detailed
tabulation of ASI data are now done at the Industrial Statistics Wing of the CSO at Calcutta.
15
The FOD carries out at Faridabad the processing of agricultural data collected by it under the
Timely Reporting Scheme and the Improvement of Crop Statistics Scheme. The National
Accounts Division (NAD) has its own system of PCs for compilation of national accounts.
One important step in the process of computerisation of survey data processing in
NSSO is the introduction in 1995-96 of Palmtop computers for the collection of data. As an
experimental measure, in the 52nd Round of NSS, socio-economic data were collected in
Haryana directly on palmtop computers. The basic idea was to download the data collected
on palmtop computers directly on to main computers for processing and thereby avoid the
intermediate step of data entry. The palmtop computer had just two lines of display of 16
characters each, and a memory of only 64 Kilo Bytes. The FOD used these gadgets
subsequently to collect field data under the scheme of Improvement of Crop Statistics (ICS),
Middle Class Price Collection (MCPC), etc. These projects were planned in a hurry.
Operational problems under difficult conditions in the field were not examined carefully.
Limitations of hardware and software were not taken into account. The project was a total
failure.
Wrongly diagnosing the problem as mainly one of limited capacity of the equipment,
another experimental project was attempted in the 54th Round of the NSS, this time using
more efficient Palmtop computers with larger memory. The data were collected from Orissa
and Maharashtra using these newer Palmtop computers. However, with the total failure this
time again, the project has apparently been shelved. The 700 or so pieces bought at a cost of
more than 1.5 crores of rupees are lying unused and may not be even usable any longer. But,
there is now a proposal to undertake a pilot study for using even better and much more
expensive modern laptop computers with large memory and hard disk capacity for data
collection by the field staff!
A great step of forward to meet user requirements was the adoption by the
Government in 1999 of a National Policy on Data Dissemination. According to this policy,
the Government is committed to supply the user, at marginal cost, unit level data, from all
surveys after the expiry of three years from the completion of fieldwork or after the reports
based on survey data are released, whichever is earlier. To protect the privacy of information,
all identification particulars of the informant would be removed from the data before making
these publicly available.
By the above policy, the Computer Centre has been entrusted with the responsibility
of creation and maintenance of a National Data Warehouse of Official Statistics. Under this
project, the Computer Centre will preserve data generated by various Central and State
Government departments and public sector undertakings on electronic media, organise them
in the form of databases and provide remote access facilities to end-users through a network.
The Computer Centre has already initiated action for the creation of such a Warehouse. The
Computer Centre has been preserving a large volume of data generated through various
socio-economic surveys conducted by NSSO, Follow-up Enterprises Surveys by the
MoS&PI, and Annual Surveys of Industries conducted by the CSO. These data are being
disseminated regularly to a large number of national and international users on Floppy and
Compact Disk (CD).
The Computer Centre has also been given the responsibility of creating and updating
the website of the MoS&PI which is hosted by the National Informatics Centre. The site is
being regularly updated.
Computers are being used in almost all the Central ministries, departments and
organisations in one-way or other. The Directory of Statistics published by the CSO gives
information on computerised databases maintained by various organisations at the Centre as
well as the State Directorates of Economics and Statistics.
Several attempts were made by the NSSO to use the National Informatics Centre
managed communication network (NICNET) for transmission of Core Items of Monthly
Progress Report (MPR) and Middle Class Price Collection (MCPC) data. However, it was
16
 found that in many cases data transmission through NICNET was not at all satisfactory. As a
result, the system of sending filled in schedules to the CSO through the traditional postal
service was continued and transmission of Core Items of MPRs and MCPC using NICNET
was discontinued. Similarly, an attempt by the FOD to transmit ASI summary data through
NICNET had also to be given up because of duplication or loss of data in transmission and
failure to install revised versions of software in a number of Centres of National Informatics
Centre.
During 1998, a decision was taken to install e-mail in all the 172 field offices of FOD,
NSSO, through the network of National Informatics Centre. After a period of two years, the
connection could be provided only in 116 offices. Even in the offices connected, the
transmission of data was not very successful.

General observations on the use of Information Technology in the Statistical System of

India.

Statistical data processing involves the following types of work:

 Transcription of data from filled in schedules to a computer readable medium. This is labour-
intensive error prone work;
 Verification of transcription, in which the transcription operation is repeated and the copy is
mechanically compared with the original (100 per cent verification is the norm in NSS);
 Computerised check of internal consistency of the transcribed data; preparation of list of
errors and their rectification by reference to the original document, or even by revisiting the
informant;
 Consolidation of data files and check of completeness of coverage;
 Computerised check for missing or inconsistent data and replacing these by rule-based
imputed values;
 Calculation of weights;
 Preparation and scrutiny of Tables;
 Calculation of standard errors of estimates – optional;
 Printing the Tables and Survey Report in appropriate lay out.

Currently by and large, in survey data processing, a system of flat files is in use.
Imputation of missing or wrong values is done through cold deck methods.

Survey Design involves the following activities:

 Preparation and Maintenance of Sampling Frame of First Stage Units;
 Selection of First Stage Units according to the sampling design;
 Choice of Sampling Design;
 Design of Schedule or Questionnaire.
 Computers are being or can be used in each of these activities.
At present, a standard sampling design is used – two or three-stage stratified sampling
using a circular systematic method of selection with probability of inclusion proportional to
size. The sample size is determined on the basis of availability of field investigators. There is
a great scope for imaginative use of computers in improving the sampling design.
A large number of Statistical Software Packages are now available for sophisticated
analytical work. Though some of these are available, official statisticians in India seldom use
these. As a matter of fact, routine statistical work involves very little of technical
computation.
A sound statistical system should ensure speedy transmission of information at
different levels: field to the data preparation centres, data preparation centres to the main data
processing centre, main data processing centre to the data warehouse and finally to users. At
present only a few of the above offices are electronically connected through a communication
17
network, either though the NICNET or through e-mail provided by various Internet Service
Providers. Though networking of all important statistical offices is necessary, it need not be a
dedicated one at the present.
A number of standard classifications like the National Industrial Classification (NIC),
National Classification of Occupations (NCO), Indian Trade Classification based on
Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System {ITC(HS)}, Standard Classification
of Diseases, etc. are presently in use. There is a need to develop a computerised system to
facilitate searching the appropriate code of any classificatory variable easily with the help of
some key words about it. The system needs to be made available on the Internet through
website. Such an arrangement would help the potential users of Classification.

Economic Census and Follow-up Enterprise Surveys

From the early fifties, information about unorganised economic activities is being
collected through sample surveys. To improve the frame for such surveys, a periodic census
of all enterprises (including those in the organised sector) was considered
necessary. Accordingly, a scheme on Economic Census (EC) and Follow-up Enterprise
Surveys was launched by the CSO in 1976 with two main objectives namely,

(a) To provide a frame (list) from which samples could be drawn for collecting detailed
information;

(b) To provide at regular intervals some basic information on location, type of activity,
nature of operation, etc. about the enterprises in the country and number of persons employed
by them at the level of villages, and census enumeration blocks, i.e. EBs in case of large
villages and urban areas (except in the recent EC in which Urban Frame Survey blocks of
NSSO were used).

So far four ECs have been conducted during 1977, 1980, 1990 and 1998, respectively.
While the First (1977) and the Fourth (1998) ECs were independently conducted by the CSO,
the Second (1980) and the Third (1990) were integrated with the house listing operations of
the 1981 and 1991 Population Censuses, respectively.

The EC, 1977 covered only non-agricultural establishments (i.e. enterprises

employing at least one hired worker on a fairly regular basis). On the other hand, each of the
other three subsequent ECs covered both agricultural (other than crop production and
plantation) and non-agricultural activities and they covered establishments as well as own
account enterprises (i.e. enterprises employing no hired worker on a fairly regular basis – i.e.
run with the help of household members only).

The EC is financed, planned and technically supervised by the MoS&PI but the
fieldwork, data entry and preparation of State-wise results are done through the States.

Each of the ECs collected certain basic items of information about the enterprises
namely, location of enterprise, nature of operation, description of activity, type of ownership,
social group of owner, whether power or fuel used and number of workers in the enterprise.
However, there were inclusions of certain additional items in some of these ECs, for
example, agency of registration in the First and Fourth ECs and value of annual output or
turnover or receipt in the First EC.

18
 Using the EC frame, Follow-up Enterprise Surveys of all non-agricultural enterprises
under the following sectors have been conducted at periodic intervals

(a) Manufacturing,

(b) Mining and quarrying,

(c) Trade,

(d) Hotels and restaurants, transport,

(e) Storage and warehousing,

(f) Other services.

Until recently, the fieldwork for all the Follow-up Enterprise Surveys was carried out
by the Field Operations Division of the NSSO under the technical supervision of the CSO
(Economic Census Division) except in the case of manufacturing and trade (own account
enterprises and non-directory establishments), which had been the responsibility of the
NSSO. In 1998-99, a combined survey of all non-agricultural activities barring a few was
taken up by the Department of Statistics without the approval of the Governing Council of
the NSSO. After 1998-99, the entire survey work for all non-agricultural sectors has been
spread over different years and been conducted by the NSSO, with the approval of the
Governing Council.

Processing of the data from the Follow-up Enterprise Surveys was the sole
responsibility of the Computer Centre till 1993-94. Afterwards, the Data Processing Division
of NSSO took over the data processing work of surveys planned by the NSSO.

Functions of Directorate of Economics and Statistics

1. The Directorate of Economics and Statistics is primarily engaged in the field of

collection, tabulation, compilation, analysis, processing and interpretation of Statistical
information pertaining to various sectors of the economy and disseminating of the same
to the user agencies.
2. The Objective is to coordinate of Statistical activities of all Departments of the state,
monitoring and liason with various agencies of Government and supplying statistical
data to Planners, Administrators in the form of reports to cater the needs of effective
Planning Processes and administration of the state.

3. Besides following up the Central Statistical Organisation’s guidelines in the matter of

broad national Statistical system in the country and the state as well, the Directorate
also collects and compiles data generated by various other departments as part of the
functions and Statistical activities.

MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE OFICE OF REGISTRAR GENERAL AND CENSUS

COMMISSIONER

The Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (ORG&CCI) is an attached
office of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for the following:

19
(i) Housing & Population Census: The Census Commissioner, India is the statutory authority
vested with the responsibility of conducting the Housing and Population Census in India
under the Census Act, 1948 and Rules framed thereunder. Planning, coordination, supervision
of the field activities; data processing; tabulation, compilation and dissemination of Census
results is the responsibility of this office.
(ii) National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) and issue of National Identity Cards (NIC):
The RGI discharges the statutory function of Registrar General of Citizens Registration
(RGCR) under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003. The National Population Register
(NPR), which is the first step towards the creation of the National Register of Indian Citizens,
is being created under the provisions of the aforementioned statute.
(iii) Civil Registration System (CRS): The Census Commissioner is also designated as the
Registrar General, India (RGI), under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. In this
role, this office coordinates the functioning of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics
System in the country.
(iv) Sample Registration System (SRS): Conducting Sample Registration System, a large scale
sample survey of vital events, every half year is also the responsibility of this office. The SRS
is the only source of vital rates like Birth Rate, Death Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and
Maternal Mortality Rate at the State level in the country. 2
(v) Annual Health Survey (AHS): This scheme has been conceived at the behest of the National
Commission on Population, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Prime Minister’s
Office and the Planning Commission. It is designed to yield benchmarks of core vital and
health indicators at the district level.
(vi) Socio- Economic and Caste Census: The Government of India is conducting the Socio
Economic and Caste Census all over the country. While the Ministry of Rural Development
and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation are the nodal Ministries in the
Government of India in rural and urban areas respectively, the ORG&CCI is rendering
complete logistic and technical support towards this exercise.
(vii) Mother Tongue Survey: A survey of the unclassified mother tongues returned in Census
2001 is under implementation.
(viii) Linguistic Survey: The Linguistic Survey of India is an ongoing research project being
implemented in ORG&CCI.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The foundation of the statistical system in India was laid down by the British
administration. The Provincial Governments were required to publish the relevant statistics in
their annual administration reports. They, in turn, depended upon the district offices. These
statistics covered a wide range of subjects. The forms for this information were later made
uniform, and the first Statistical Abstract of British India (1840-1865) was based on such
information provided by the Provinces. One of the notable contributions was the publication,
in the first half of the nineteenth century, of District Gazetteers. Several Commissions and
Committees appointed by the Government of India for studies of specific fields also
recommended that the Provinces should create institutions to collect statistics in the relevant
fields. Thus, the Indian Industrial Commission (1916-1918) recommended that a Department
of Industries should be created in the Provinces, with representatives throughout the Province
to collect information on industries. Later the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India
(1924-1925) pointed out that not only should the Provinces be self-sufficient in the field of
statistics, but also that there should be a large Central Organisation. Later, the Famine
Enquiry Commission (1945) suggested the appointment of qualified Statistical Officers at
Provincial Headquarters to assist the Director of Agriculture.

20
 Statistics in India thus developed in the Provinces expanding in scope to cover the
fields of agriculture, industries, civil supplies (during the World War II), education, forestry,
labour, cooperation, health and vital statistics. The organisational arrangement for collecting
and publishing statistics, logically consistent with the organisation of Government
administration and with the consequent delegated responsibilities and functions, has remained
the same up to the present.
The first significant development in the pre-independence era was the constitution of
a Statistical Committee (1862) for the preparation of forms to collect statistical information
on different subject areas. This led to the publication entitled Statistical Abstract of British
India in 1868. This publication was based on the returns of the local administrations and
contained useful statistical information for all the British Provinces, and became an annual
feature till 1923.
Following the recommendations of the Indian Famine Commission, Agriculture
Departments were opened in 1881 in various provinces inter alia for collection of
Agricultural Statistics, while the work of coordination in the collection of Agricultural
Statistics by the Provinces was vested in the Department of Agriculture. The first publication
on the subject, Agricultural Statistics of British India,was brought out in 1886.
A Statistical Branch was established in 1862 in the then Finance Department of the
Government of India. In 1895, the Statistical Branch was converted into a full-fledged
Statistical Bureau embracing subsequently, within its function the task of dissemination of
commercial intelligence in 1905. Functions and activities of the Bureau were carried out
through two well-defined wings namely, Commercial Intelligence and Statistics putting both
under an organisation entitled Department of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics headed
by the Director General. The Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics until
1914 was responsible for the compilation and publication of almost all the principal statistical
information on demography, crop production and prices, rainfall, industrial production,
education, health and hygiene, mining, roads and communications, and other subject matters.
In April 1914, a separate Directorate of Statistics came into being. Subsequently, the
Directorate of Statistics and the Commercial Intelligence Department were merged into a
single organisation, which was renamed as the Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and
Statistics in January 1925.
The first complete Population Census was conducted in 1881 on a uniform basis
throughout the country. Since then the census is being conducted regularly after every ten
years. For this purpose, a Census Commissioner was appointed by the Government before
each census assisted by Provincial Superintendents and District Census Officers. Only in
1948 following a Census Act, a permanent Office of the Registrar General and Census
Commissioner was created.
In 1925, the Economic Enquiry Committee was set-up to enquire into ‘the question of
adequacy of the statistical data available and the desirability and possibility of supplementing
it, and of undertaking an economic enquiry’. The Committee recommended that the Central
and Provincial Governments should come under the supervision of one central authority that
would act as the adviser to the Government in all statistical matters. The Committee
supported the placing of the entire statistical organisation on a statutory basis by enacting a
Census and Statistics Act.
The development of statistics as an essential part of Government administration
compartmentalised the content of statistics in many sectors and fields according to the
various Government departments, which dealt with them individually. However, the
administrators were fully aware that if all these statistics were viewed as a single body of
information, they would create greater and better knowledge about the conditions of life of
the Indian people than what they could convey when viewed in isolation. The Indian
Economic Enquiry Committee (1925) recommended the establishment of a Central Statistical
Bureau, along with similar Provincial Statistical Bureaux, whose “aim was to provide a
21
common purpose and a central thinking office on the subject of Statistics”. It also
recommended legislation to place the whole Statistical Organisation on a legal basis and thus
to ensure or facilitate the collection of current economic data from individuals and firms. The
Government of India did not accept these recommendations.
The Committee appointed by the Government of India in 1934 under Messrs. Bowley
and Robertson, for facilitating a further study of economic problems in India, was required,
by one of its terms of reference, to make recommendation about the organisation of a Central
Statistical Department. The two experts were clear that there should be in each major
Province a whole time Statistician who would cooperate with the Central Director of
Statistics and who would be as nearly independent of departmental control as administrative
requirements permitted. The creation of the Central Economic Intelligence Organisation,
under the Economic Adviser, and the emergence of the Department of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics were the results of these recommendations. Similar developments
followed in the Provinces and the United Provinces Government was the first to set up a
Department of Economics and Statistics in 1942. The Government of Bombay followed by
the establishment of its Bureau of Economics and Statistics in 1946. Only after India became
independent did the Government of India establish a Central Statistical Unit (1949), which
was later (1951) converted into the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) and the
Department of Statistics, which constitute presently the Statistics Wing of the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The outbreak of the War in 1939 gave a fillip to the development of statistics to meet
the requirements of the Government. In 1945, the Government of India set up an Inter-
Departmental Committee with the Economic Adviser to the Government of India as
Chairman to consider the statistical material available and to make recommendations for
filling up of the gaps, and for improvement in the existing organisations. Among the
organisational recommendations was a scheme coupled with the formation of a Central
Statistical Office for coordination, the institution of a statistical cadre, establishment of
Statistical Bureaus at the Headquarters of State Governments and the preparation of overall
statistics for the entire country.
Professor P.C. Mahalanobis, who is regarded as a pioneer in both theoretical and
professional statistics, was appointed as the first statistical adviser to the Cabinet,
Government of India in January 1949. He was the architect of the statistical system of
independent India. Professor P. V. Sukhatme, as Statistical Adviser to the Ministry of
Agriculture, was responsible for the development of Agricultural Statistics.
The coming of the era of developmental planning in India, gave significant impetus to
the development of statistics. Important phases of this development are enumerated below:
(a) A nucleus statistical unit was set up at the Centre in the Cabinet Secretariat in 1949. This
unit was developed later on in 1951 into the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). The
main responsibility assigned to the CSO was to bring about coordination of statistical
activities among various statistical agencies in the Central Government and of Statistical
Bureaus of State Governments, which was set up for similar coordination of activities of
statistical agencies at the State level.
(b) A National Income Committee was appointed in 1949 to work out a system for reliable
estimation of national income.
(c) The National Sample Survey (NSS) came into being in 1950 to collect information
through sample surveys on a variety of socio-economic aspects.
(d) In 1954, the National Income Unit was transferred from the Ministry of Finance to the
CSO and a new Unit for Planning Statistics was set up.
(e) In 1957, the subject of Industrial Statistics was transferred from the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry to the CSO.
(f) In April 1961, the Department of Statistics was set up in the Cabinet Secretariat and the
CSO became a part of it.
22
(g) In 1972, a Computer Centre in the then Department of Statistics was set up.
(h) In 1973, the Department of Statistics became a part of the Ministry of Planning.
(i) In February 1999, the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme
Implementation were merged and named as the Department of Statistics and Programme
Implementation under Ministry of Planning and Programme Implementation.
(j) In October 1999, the Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation was
declared as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoS&PI).
The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) was registered on 28 April 1932 at Calcutta as a non-
profit-distributing learned society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, with Professor
P.C. Mahalanobis as its founder Director. This was set up to carry out research, teaching,
training and project activities, and it gradually became an important part of the statistical
system of India, through its pioneering work on large-scale sample surveys, design of
agricultural experiments, statistical quality control, planning for national development and
use of electronic computers in statistical work. By an Act of Parliament, the Institute was
declared as an "Institute of National Importance" in 1959 and the right to hold examinations
and award degrees and diplomas in Statistics was conferred on it.

Potential of the NSS Survey Mechanism and Data

It is indeed a sad state of affairs that although most States carry out the field-work of
the matching sample of the NSS, most of them do not tabulate the collected data and publish
the NSS findings for the State because of a mismatch of resources for data collection and
those that should be devoted to the tabulation and analysis of the same. This is a glaring
example of wastage of resources and the States should attempt to immediately correct this
imbalance, as the NSS data they possess are a mine of information that would prove
extremely useful to the State Governments.
Further, the NSS offers two potentially great advantages to the States. Participation in
the NSS provides the States with the best representative sample of their States’ population
and a band of well-trained field staff. If a State Government needs any simple type of data,
over and above those already included in the NSS schedules of a round, it can easily and
quickly collect them by canvassing a simple additional schedule containing them for the same
selected sample.
The second is the wealth of quantitative information that the NSS provides. The DES
should perceive the immense utility of these data much beyond the production of a set of
tables decided upon by the NSSO. In effect, the DES possesses a data-bank containing sets of
voluminous data generated by several rounds of the NSS on many social, economic and
demographic variables for large representative samples of a State’s households. It is possible
to tabulate on demand data on those variables, which are relevant to a particular problem of
decision-making, in any manner required. Computerisation will greatly help this process of
full exploitation of the potential utility of NSS data.

23