Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Dr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, addressed the 20th Statistics Day celebrations in New Delhi as Chief Guest, paying tribute to Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis on his birth anniversary and underlining the enduring relevance of robust, credible statistical systems to good governance. The event also saw the release of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s Vision Document 2026-31, a Progress Report on the Sustainable Development Goals, and the first-ever city-level estimates of labour markets and informal enterprises, marking a series of landmark outputs for India’s statistical ecosystem.
Congratulating MoSPI on these releases, Dr. Mishra also felicitated Professor Arup Bose on receiving the Sukhatme National Award, a recognition of outstanding contribution to the field of statistics in India.
Speaking on this year’s theme, “Unlocking the Potential of Administrative Data,” Dr. Mishra described it as a transformative step toward evidence-based policymaking and said it reflects the Prime Minister’s vision of data-driven governance and Viksit Bharat at 2047. He recalled India’s pioneering contributions to the global statistical tradition through figures such as Professor P.C. Mahalanobis, founder of the Indian Statistical Institute and the journal Sankhya, as well as Professor C.R. Rao and Professor P.V. Sukhatme, whose methodological innovations continue to influence the discipline internationally.
Dr. Mishra acknowledged that despite this legacy of excellence, India’s statistical system had in recent decades faced challenges including outdated datasets, delayed data dissemination, fragmented architecture and declining professional capacity. A comprehensive reform exercise led by MoSPI, he said, resulted in 216 recommendations accepted for time-bound implementation under an institutional oversight mechanism. These have already translated into new surveys, updated macroeconomic indicators, faster data release cycles and significant process reforms.
Key macroeconomic indicators, including GDP, the Consumer Price Index and the Index of Industrial Production, are being updated with new base years to better reflect India’s evolving economy. Digitalisation has also been central to the reform effort: initiatives such as the National Metadata Structure 2.0, machine-readable data standards, Open APIs and platforms including e-Sankhyiki, GoIStats, PAIMANA and e-SAKSHI are enhancing data accessibility, interoperability and real-time governance.
Dr. Mishra also called for administrative data to be treated as a strategic national asset. He urged greater coordination among central ministries, state governments and Union Territories to create interoperable and integrated data ecosystems with the highest standards of privacy and security, laying the foundation for responsible artificial intelligence adoption in governance.
