Centre dissolves Pronab Sen-headed Standing Committee on Statistics after members question census delay

Union Ministry dissolves Standing Committee on Statistics after questions on census delay

The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has quietly dissolved the 14-member Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) headed by eminent economist and former chief statistician of the country Pronab Sen, allegedly after its members questioned the delay in conducting the census.

The reason it is being dismantled, according to an email sent to the members by Geeta Singh Rathore, Director General of the Ministry’s National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), is that the committee’s work overlapped with that of the recently formed Steering Committee for National Sample Surveys. A copy of her email is with The Hindu.

Dr. Sen, however, told The Hindu that the members were not given any reason for disbanding the panel. He added that, in their meetings, they had asked why the census, which is a major source of data, has not been conducted yet.

India’s decennial census has been conducted every ten years since the 1870s, and the last census was conducted in 2011. The next, scheduled for 2021, was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has yet to be notified. A number of economists have expressed concerns that the data sets used for most statistical surveys are still being drawn from the 2011 census, impacting their accuracy and quality.

Formed in July 2023, the SCoS was supposed to advise the Union government on survey methodology, including sampling frame, sampling design, and survey instruments, and to finalise a tabulation plan of surveys.

In her letter to the members, Ms. Rathore said that the Ministry had recently constituted the Steering Committee for National Sample Surveys (NSS) as per a recommendation by the National Statistical Commission (NSC) to look into the survey-related issues of NSSO. “The roles and responsibilities of Steering Committee are overlapping with that of Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) as outlined in the respective Terms of Reference (ToRs). In this context, I would like to convey that the Ministry has decided to dissolve the SCoS, constituted vide its order dated 13th July 2023,” she said in the letter.

The new panel is headed by NSC chairman Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, and at least four members of the SCoS have already been accommodated in it.