• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) organised the 28th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (CoCSSO) in New Delhi, which concluded on August 13, 2024.

• Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh called for the cooperation of stakeholders in improving the quality, timeliness and relevance of data in the process of governance.

• He highlighted the importance of the conference in the federal setup as it brings together all concerned stakeholders of the national statistical system at a forum for discussion as to how the system can be taken forward for improving the quality, timeliness and relevance of data in the process of governance.

• ‘Use of Data for Decision Making - Strengthening State Statistical System’ was the theme for the conference.

• It was attended by the representatives of central ministries/departments, state/UT governments, World Bank, UN agencies and other stakeholders.

Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (CoCSSO):

• As a part of the mechanism set up by the government for coordinating the activities in the field of statistics in different states/UTs and central ministries/departments, the ministry organises Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (CoCSSO) every year. 

• This is a major forum for discussing important statistical issues by the central and state statistical agencies with the objective of putting in coordinated efforts for availability of reliable and timely statistics to planners and policy makers for informed decision making and good governance.

• It provides an institutional platform for discussion and improved coordination between the central and state statistical organisations for enhancing the efficiency of the Indian statistical system in a collaborative approach.

• It was organised for the first time in 1971.

• Earlier it was supposed to be organised once every two years. Keeping in view the usefulness of the Conference, it has now been decided to have it every year.

Objectives of CoCSSO:

• To provide a platform for discussion on the statistical issues of common interest to the central and 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.  

• To review the role of the statistical advisers in the central and states/UT governments.

Monitoring statistics in India

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) came into existence as an independent ministry on October 15, 1999 after the merger of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. 

The Ministry has two wings:

i) Statistics

ii) Programme Implementation. 

The Statistics Wing called the National Statistical Office (NSO) consists of:

• Central Statistics Office (CSO)

• National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

The Programme Implementation wing has three Divisions:

• Twenty Point Programme (TPP)

• Infrastructure and Project Monitoring (IPM)

• Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

• Besides, there is National Statistical Commission (NSC) created through a resolution of the government and one autonomous institute — Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), which was declared as an institute of national importance by an Act of Parliament.

National Statistical Office

• The National Statistics Office (NSO) coordinates the statistical activities in the country and evolves statistical standards. 

• NSO brings out important economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index of Industrial Product (IIP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and other official statistics to support Government decision making and framing of appropriate socio-economic policies/programmes. 

• The NSO has a vast network of field offices spread across the length and breadth of the country for conducting nationwide large scale socio-economic surveys on a regular basis for providing insight into various facets of economy and society at large. 

• Being the nodal agency in the country for official statistics, the NSO coordinates statistical activities amongst ministries/departments of the Centre as well as with the state/UT governments.

• The National Accounts Division (NAD) of the NSO is responsible for preparation of National Accounts, which include the estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), National Income, Government/Private Final Consumption Expenditure, Capital Formation and Savings along with details of transactions of institutional sectors. 

The NSO is mandated with the following responsibilities:

i) To act as the nodal agency for planned development of the statistical system in the country.

ii) To formulate and maintain norms and standards related to statistics.

iii) To coordinate the statistical work in respect of central ministries/departments and State Directorate of Economics & Statistics (DESs)

iv) To prepare and publish National Accounts Statistics, namely, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), Capital Formation, savings, etc.

v) To compile and release Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers and Annual Inflation rates based on these CPI numbers.

vi) To compile and release the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) every month.

vii) To conduct large scale all-India socio-economic sample surveys.

viii) To conduct the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).

ix) To conduct other surveys like price collection surveys, agriculture area

enumeration and crop cutting experiments, urban frame surveys etc.

(x) To conduct periodic all-India Economic Censuses and follow-up enterprise surveys.

xi) To maintain liaison with international statistical organisations, such as the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD), ESCAP, the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), etc.

xii) To bring out reports as per the international/regional commitments such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) India Country Report and SAARC Development Goals India Country Report.

National Statistical Commission

• The setting up of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) followed the decision of the Cabinet to accept a recommendation of the Rangarajan Commission, which reviewed the Indian Statistical System in 2001. 

• The NSC was initially constituted on July 12, 2006 and it has been functioning since then.

• The NSC has a part-time chairperson and four part-time members, each having specialisation and experience in specified statistical fields. Also, the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog is the ex-officio member of the NSC. The maximum tenure of a part-time chairperson/member is three years. 

• 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.

• The NSC is mandated to evolve policies, priorities and standards in statistical matters and provides technical advice to monitor/enforce statistical priorities and standards pertaining to the national statistical system. 

• The main functions of the Commission is to evolve strategies for improving the statistical system of the country, besides serving as a nodal and empowered body for all core statistical activities of the country and evolving, monitoring and enforcing statistical priorities and standards.

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