CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION - Government of Himachal Pradesh

DESHP
Himachal Pradesh State Strategic Statistical Plan 15
development programmes of the Central ministries, the design of the record-keeping
system is usually dictated by administrative requirements, with little consideration of the
needs of the statistical agencies.
2.4 Review by Rangarajan Commission
2.4.1 A Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan was appointed by the
Government of India in January 2000 to examine critically the deficiencies in the
statistical system and to recommend measures for its systematic revamping. The
Commission known as the Rangarajan Commission, in its report submitted to the
Government of India in September 2001 listed several data gaps and deficiencies in the
statistical system.
2.4.2 The National Statistical Commission (NSC) had noted the following crucial
deficiencies in the Statistical System of India:
a) Existence of gaps in the availability of needed information;
b) Delays in publication of results;
c) Large and frequent revisions of published results;
d) Gross discrepancies in official statistics from different sources; and
e) Lack of transparency in statistical operations.
2.4.3 These deficiencies, as noted by the NSC, have led to a serious loss of credibility of
official statistics, arising on account of following reasons:
a) There is lack of a system of assurance of quality of the statistics that are
disseminated by the official statistical system;
b) Over the years, the system of statutory administrative returns, which form the major
sources of official statistics, has seriously weakened;
c) Time tested methods of coordination with various agencies of the decentralized
statistical system such as Technical Working Groups, Advisory Committees,