As far as we are aware, Statistics Day has been observed annually on June 29 since 2007. Today is recognized as the birth anniversary of the late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, who made significant contributions to the fields of statistics, planning, and economics. Raising public awareness of the value and relevance of statistics in socio-economic planning, policy formulation, and decision-making for the nation’s growth is one of the main goals of Statistics Day, particularly among the younger population.
The Importance of Statistics Day
Every year on Statistics Day, a single, highly relevant national issue is selected for concentrated study. This year’s Statistics Day (2024) theme is “Use of Data for Decision-making.” As is well known, the ability to make decisions based on data is crucial for both supporting evidence-based decision-making and improving comprehension of statistical data derived from official statistics. Using decision-making, official statistics has had an impressive track record over the past few decades. In the current era of information, the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other official data sources provide high-quality, dependable data that is becoming more and more important for economies and communities.
The data producers of different nations have made extensive use of data for a variety of decision-making purposes throughout the previous 50 years. Without data or statistics, it is hard to move on to the next phase of planning and policy formulation. In the past, official statistics were mostly produced via surveys, censuses, and administrative registers; however, in the modern era, artificial intelligence and other helpful data sources based on statistical literacy are crucial for making decisions. The institutional mandate to conduct and generate statistical activities for planning, policy, and decision-making necessitates a continual process of gathering data through national surveys and censuses as needed.
One of the government agencies in charge of gathering data is the National Statistical Office (NSO), which can generate statistics using the approved methods and procedures on a national level. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), sometimes known as the National Statistical Office (NSO), is a nodal office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. In addition to being a legitimate agency of the Indian government, it is well known and respected among other global statistical agencies for the official statistics it generates.
The producers of official statistics are not the only source of trustworthy data, as the integration of administrative data has grown in popularity. This is done to guarantee that data users have been using high-quality statistical information. It is important to note that, while decisions are being made, there is a rising discrepancy between official statistics and less trustworthy data. This could give perceptions and opinions based on data or statistics more weight. Statistics must be distinguished as a reliable information source. The use of statistical surveys is becoming more and more important every day.
The Theme for Statistics Day 2024
Users of official statistics have more specific and specialized needs, necessitating the need for more detailed information, such as high-quality data on tiny demographic groups and geographic areas. One of the primary characteristics of data that affects the value that people perceive is the quality of the statistics. One way to conceptualize quality is as “fit for use,” which encompasses a variety of elements like coherence, accessibility, timeliness, correctness, and relevance. Official statistics are by no means the exclusive source of quality.
Anyone with an interest can conduct effective analysis thanks to the availability of data, open-source tools, and free cloud computing resources. Information technology advancements have made it simpler for NSOs to share digital data. The days of having to scan paper forms to get data in a shared digital format across businesses are long gone. Data exchange between NSOs and data custodians is becoming simpler as most administrative data is now gathered online using secure transfer protocols. Furthermore, administrative data is now easier than ever to enter into the statistics system because to developments in record linkage techniques.
18th National Statistics Day
Theme 2024: Use of Data for decision making
🔸#NationalStatisticsDay is celebrated on June 29 every year to acknowledge and appreciate the exceptional contributions made by statisticians in India, particularly honoring the birth anniversary of… pic.twitter.com/OJUPqNhprR
— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 28, 2024
The United Nations General Assembly guidelines for producing official statisticsÂ
These guidelines are necessary at this stage of artificial intelligence technology application to improve the quality and quantity of data. The following Fundamental Principles on Official Statistics are necessary to generate high-quality statistics and to improve statistical performance:
- Relevance, objectivity, and equal access: Information regarding the economic, demographic, social, and environmental conditions is provided by data or official statistics, which are an essential component of a democratic society’s information system and are used by the government, business community, and general public. To respect citizens’ right to access public information, official statistics that pass the practical utility criteria must be prepared and made available by official statistical agencies in an unbiased manner.
- Â Ethics and professional standards: The statistical agencies must decide on the methods and procedures for the collecting, processing, storage, and presentation of statistical data by strictly professional considerations, including scientific principles and professional ethics, to maintain public confidence in official statistics.
- Accountability and transparency: The statistical agencies must provide information on the sources, methods, and procedures of the statistics in accordance with scientific standards to enable accurate data interpretation.
- Preventing misuse: The statistical agencies have the right to offer feedback regarding incorrect interpretation and inappropriate use of data.
- Official statistics sources: Information for statistics can be obtained from a variety of sources, including administrative records and statistical surveys. Statistical agencies must select the source that best fits their needs in terms of cost, timeliness, quality, and respondent burden.
- Confidentiality: All individual data, whether they pertain to natural or legal persons, that statistical organizations collect for compilation purposes must be kept totally confidential and used only for statistical analysis.
- Legislation: Public disclosure is required for all laws, rules, and policies governing the operation of statistical systems.
- National coordination: To ensure uniformity and effectiveness in the statistics system, national statistical agencies must work together.
- Use of International Standards: The uniformity and effectiveness of statistical systems at all official levels are promoted by the utilization of international concepts, classifications, and procedures by statistical agencies in every nation.
- International cooperation: The development of official statistics systems worldwide is facilitated by both bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistics.
The need for official statistics and data is increasing quickly in order to provide context, serve as an economic indicator, and assess the state of national growth. There is a growing need for precise and reliable information about economies and society as the globe becomes more interconnected and globalized. Reports on the 2030 agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals, for instance, will examine hundreds of indicators and be created through numerous new partnerships. The goal of measuring these indicators should be to fully respect the UN member countries’ human rights and the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics for their development and well-being.
Role of National Statistical Offices
We must concentrate on the greatest statisticians, communicators, and audiences if we wish to employ facts or statistics. Statisticians, scientists, institutional and non-institutional survey organizations, survey industries and firms, etc. are the people who create statistics because they are better at using data for planning and decision-making. The best people to disseminate numbers include government agencies, scientific publications, charities, press officers, journalists, and editors. By verifying the accessible statistics, other audiences, including the general public, policymakers, and professionals, can perform better. Everyone is responsible for identifying and supporting the criticism of subpar statistics practices. Therefore, identifying improper statistical practices requires an awareness of statistical literacy.
Under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, the National Statistical Office (NSO) gathers data through surveys and censuses, which is subsequently utilized to inform decisions based on reliable and accurate official statistics. Official statistics is a valuable tool for making fast decisions because it can be used to calculate minimum wages, dearness allowances for government employees, fuel surcharges, policies and strategies to reduce poverty and unemployment, population and labor force participation, property prices and rental market analysis, regional development and city planning, trade union negotiations, transportation infrastructure, educational infrastructure, subsidies, quotas, government representation and electoral boundaries, health services, immigration, trade, quality of life comparisons, interest rates, budget and finance, and more.