The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI), being the nodal agency for planning an integrated development of the statistical system in the country, coordinates the statistical work in respect of the Central Ministries/Departments and State/UT Governments. With this mandate and in order to strengthen the statistical coordination between MoSPI and State Governments/UT Administration, this Ministry organized a meeting of State Secretaries (Planning & Statistics) on 14th November, 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
The meeting was attended by the State Secretaries (Planning & Statistics) of States, Officers from MoSPI including senior officers from State Capital ROs of NSS, NITI Aayog, other representatives from State / UT Governments and representative from the World bank, etc.
A series of technical sessions were held briefing a wide range of initiatives that MoSPI intends to start aiming the strengthening of the National Statistical System. Key topics included revamping of the Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS) sub-scheme, Conduct of the 8th Economic Census, Compilation of state and sub-state level estimates for National Accounts Statistics (NAS), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Data Innovation Lab, participation of States in the National Sample Surveys & generation of district-level estimates and Implementation of the MPLAD Scheme.
The daylong meeting was graced by Shri. Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Capacity Building Commission (CBC) and Dr. Shamika Ravi, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. While welcoming the dignitaries, Sh. P.R. Meshram, Director General (Data Governance), MoSPI appreciated the active participation and stated that the shared vision of the participants will go a long way in establishing the foundation for furthering collaborations to enhance the standards for excellence in our National Statistical System.
Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI in his remarks highlighted the major initiatives towards reforming the National Statistical System which inter-alia include encouraging State participation in generation of district level estimates, revamping the Support for Statistical Strengthening Scheme, data driven decision making, etc. He emphasized the need of sustained Cooperation of State/UTs for making available granular data in a timely manner in line with the data requirements of Viksit Bharat @2047. He also indicated about the role of States in the upcoming Economic Census. He stressed that presence of Regional Offices of National Statistics Office, MoSPI across States/UTs need to be leveraged for better coordination and proper feedback for sorting out the issues of implementation of various schemes of MoSPI and greater participation of States in revamping the Statistical System of the Country. He emphasized the importance of reforms at the National Level need to start touching at district level for which disaggregated data holds a very important role.
Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog in his address, appreciated the statistical reform initiatives taken by MoSPI and indicated the criticality of involvement of States in all this endeavors of MoSPI for tracking of progress towards ‘Vikisit Bharat@2047” through a robust Statistical System. He also gave insights about the role of data in decision making citing some of the data linked initiatives of NITI Aayog such as National Data and Analytics Platform, Aspirational District Programme and Aspirational Block Programme, etc. Shri Bery further highlighted the importance of analysis of alternate data sources including Big Data using AI to make data into useful information for informed decision making.
Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Capacity Building Commission (CBC) in his address, emphasized the use of iGOT platform to provide teach people what they need to know when they need to know and urged the participants to utilize the specialized skill courses on iGOT platform of CBC for statistical personnel of Central Ministries/Departments, States and UTs for augmenting the competencies. He also urged that learning modules for converting data into insights need to be prepared and integrated with iGOT for empowering the professionals across the Country.
In her address, Dr. Shamika Ravi emphasized the need for more granular and real time data for precision policy making touching upon the examples of SDGs, GDP trends, labour force participation, unemployment rate, etc. Through the data points she underscored the requirement of localized planning for Government interventions keeping in view of the diversity of the country.
Ms. Anna Roy, Programme Director, NITI Aayog, briefed about the National Data Analytics Platform (NDAP) and how it can be used for the analytical purposes and better decision making.