Just came across following news report :
Extract :
“In the absence of any
legislative framework, the NSC has faced challenges in implementing its
recommendations,” the government said inviting comments on the proposed
law.
It tasks the NCS with a
mandate “to evolve, monitor and enforce statistical
priorities and standards and to ensure statistical coordination”
and gives it a corporate
structure.
The Bill envisages financial
autonomy for the commission through an independent National Statistical Fund,
but it would be bound by directions that the Centre “may give in writing to it
from time to time”
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This is a long-overdue, welcome step
[ A ]
The most important feature is : “ Corporate Structure “
This means the government must treat the proposed “
National Statistical Fund
“ as a one-time infusion of EQUITY, in this “ CORPORATION “
Then ask its directors to generate income / profit from its OPERATIONS ( year after year ).
In short , tell the Board of Directors :
Ø NSC is not a PSU
Ø You will register with ROC as a “ Company “ ,
but you will be independent as
Election Commission , reporting to the
President of India
Ø You
will generate your own INCOME from which , you
will meet all your EXPENSES . This may include selling of statistical data
,as per existing policy of the government , as illustrated in :
Bulk
Data Sharing / Selling Policy ?
Thanks
, Shri Piyush Goyalji
Ø If you need to , you will raise further equity
from the open market ( by IPO listing )
Ø You can take loans from banks, strictly on
prevailing commercial terms
Ø Government will not offer any sovereign
guarantee for such loans
Ø You will launch your web site where you will
upload every quarter, working results
Ø On this web site, you will also publish,
METHODOLOGIES for compilation of statistics
Ø Besides
methodologies / statistical techniques employed ( for each type of statistics
), you will also publish on your web site :
# Broad synopsis / summary / findings , for
each type of statistics
# Sale price for each statistical data compiled
( - indicating period cove
red )
# Format in which the data will be supplied (
when purchased online )
# Purchase Cart
[ B ]
Another important feature is : “ Statistical
Priorities “ and “ Statistical
Coordination “
The task entrusted to NSC is mind-boggling , given that
India is a huge country of 1.37 billion people
And there is ambiguity whether “ Compilation of
Statistics “ is a “ Central Subject “ , a “ State Subject “ or a “ Joint
Subject “
The proposed law must clearly bring out , “ whose
responsibility is what “ , and how are States and Govt Agencies, expected /
required to “Coordinate “ with the NSC
Since NSC must act as a “ Profit
making Company “ , it will need to have , as few permanent employees on
its payroll , as possible
Therefore, it becomes essential that NSC develops /
launches, a TECHNOLOGY
PLATFORM which will enable it to compile various types of statistics , automatically and on-going
basis , with as little “ human intervention “
as possible
That means :
Ø No
conducting of SURVEYS , using door-to-door enumerators
Ø Using
different MOBILE APPS
for different surveys
Ø Automatic
compilation / display of Survey Results on NSC
web site
As far as PRIORITIES are concerned , following are a
few ( from among many ), that NSC may wish to consider :
[ 1 ]
Demographic
Statistics
Census 2021 : an Unprecedented Opportunity [ 11 April 2019 ]
[ 2 ]
Employment
Statistics