Union Government has announced a major reform for the internal oversight mechanism for official data, replacing the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES) with a new Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS).
Standing Committee on Statistics
- The government has renamed and expanded the scope of coverage of the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES) formed in December 2019 as Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS).
- The earlier SCES had 28 members and was mandated to review the framework for economic indicators pertaining to the industrial sector, the services sector and the labour force statistic including datasets such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the Annual Survey of Industries, Economic Census, etc.
- The new SCoS now will review all surveys.
Members
- The SCoS has 14 members, out of which there are four non-official members, nine official members and a member secretary.
- The total number of members in the committee can be 16 that it is extendable based on the requirement from time to time.
Functions
- To review the extant framework and to address the issues raised from time to time on the subject/ results/ methodology, etc. related to all surveys as brought before the SCoS by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
- It will also advise on survey methodology including sampling frame, sampling design, survey instruments, etc. and to finalize tabulation plan of surveys; finalisation of survey results.
- The committee’s function is to design all data collection and data production efforts.
- It is to make sure that whatever data is collected in MoSPI, meets the standards of good statistics.
Need for Review
Outdated and Archaic Methodologies
- Some experts have raised concerns over the outdated survey methodologies used in national surveys, such as the National Sample Survey (NSS), National Family Health Survey (NFHS), and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), leading to systematic underestimation of India’s development.
- They argue that this archaic methodology has failed to capture reality in the recent past as the “Indian economy has been incredibly dynamic in the last 30 years”.
National Level Data is Crucial
- National level data is a crucial resource for research, policymaking, and development planning. Thus, it is essential to examine the claims and counter arguments in light of existing evidence.
- For this purpose, the panel will be taking a closer look at NFHS data, which has been conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the last 30 years with the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS) as the nodal agency.
Issue of Rural Bias
- Critics argue that national surveys like NFHS exhibit a rural bias, overestimating the rural population due to heavy reliance on outdated Census data.
- However, a closer analysis of five rounds of NFHS data does not support this claim. Instead, evidence suggests instances of rural population underestimation in NFHS-3, with overestimation occurring in NFHS-2 and NFHS-5.
- NFHS-1 and NFHS-4 estimates closely align with World Bank estimates and Census projections, indicating random errors rather than systematic bias.