The Debate On Data

Context: 

Recent debates on India’s statistical system and its data have involved active participation from both government and non-government entities.

India’s Statistical System and Data Debate

• Importance of Useful Data:
  • Discussions on data veracity welcomed, but the crucial point of focus remains the usefulness of available data in measuring social and economic progress in a rapidly transforming economy. 
  • It is essential to consider this debate in the context of India’s increasing global prominence and recent election to the highest statistical body of the UN for a four-year term.
• Economic and Social Data as a Public Good:
  • Economic and social data are ideally regarded as a public good, making it the government’s responsibility to provide accurate and reliable information.
  • Private data-generating and publishing entities exclude data consumers through pricing and restrictive access policies.
• Historical Prowess and Present Decline:
  • India’s statistical system admired globally till the early 1970s.
  • Steady decline over time, raising concerns and becoming the subject of the current debate.

The three issues emerging from the debate on India’s statistical system and data are:

• Quality and Credibility of Data: The accuracy and credibility of data are essential for policy formulation, implementation, and research. 
  • Credibility depends on the form and value of data, relying on the reliability of the source.
  • Accuracy means data truly represent expected values, crucial for official rates of unemployment, poverty, and guiding policy.
  • Surveys, especially household surveys, face credibility questions regarding sample selection, geographical representation, urban and rural strata, and non-response.
  • The paper by the EAC-PM also questions the adequacy of capturing the urban part of the economy in surveys, and it suggests a re-examination of the data and definitions related to ‘urban.’
• Discrepancies in Data from Multiple Agencies: Multiple agencies provide data on the same set of indicators for the same sector, but they often produce different numbers. 
  • This discrepancy poses challenges in choosing an appropriate data set for formulating policies. 
  • For instance, In the manufacturing sector, data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ MCA21 portal differs from the Annual Survey of Industries data used for calculating GDP.
  • A 2019 report by the National Sample Survey Office found issues with nearly 36% of companies in the MCA21 system used for computing GDP, such as being untraceable or improperly classified.
  • The MCA21 portal faced technical glitches as of June 2023, affecting data uploading and access.
• Competence and ability to generate high-quality data are concerning.
  • Surveys and data publication have faced delays, impacting the availability of micro-level data on variables like consumption for poverty assessment.
  • Macroeconomic data, such as wholesale price series and consumer price index, are overdue for revisions.
  • National income estimates also need revisions to assess economic growth.
  • Non-availability of updated data hinders the assessment of economic growth and poverty reduction efforts.

Way Forward:

• Improve Data Collection Methods: Enhance data collection methods by digitizing the Census frame, utilizing geospatial technologies, and crowd-sourced data platforms to improve the quality of surveys and reduce biases in estimates.
• Embrace New Data Sources: Expand and diversify the resource base of data by including new and emerging sources like Big Data and leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence for processing. 
  • The UN Statistics Division has come up with guidelines for using Big Data for official purposes. 
  • The NSO needs to work closely with multilateral and regional agencies for enhancing the capacity of the statistical system.
• Strengthen State Statistical Systems: Focus on strengthening the data collection capacities of state governments through initiatives like the Dholakia Committee Report 2020 and the India Statistical Strengthening Project. 
  • The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) launched the India Statistical Strengthening Project with financial support from the World Bank.
  • Institutionalize inter-agency coordination between national and sub-national statistical systems.
• Holistic Approach to Rural-Urban Divide: Address rural-urban definitional issues by adopting a holistic approach to capture the interaction terms and synergies between rural and urban sub-groups.
• Learn from Successful Examples: Draw lessons from successful experiences, such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences established the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting in 1988 and used India’s first supercomputer to develop and evolve advanced numerical models for weather forecasting.
• Optimize Resources: Ensure sustained growth in resources, including physical, human, financial, and technological resources, to optimize efficiency, quality, and timeliness of statistical products.
• Finalize National Policy on Official Statistics: Expedite the finalization of the National Policy on Official Statistics, announced in the Budget 2020, along with appropriate institutional support and resources to guide the future direction of the statistical system.
• Track Sustainable Development Goals: Use a bottom-up approach to track India’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that no one is left behind.
• Fast-track Reforms and Investments: Implement reforms and invest in the statistical system in a mission mode to play an active role in the international statistical fraternity and support India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy.

News Source: The Hindu