Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at Statistics Day Celebrations

"I am delighted that we are commemorating the birth anniversary of Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalonobis as Statistics Day in India. This is a tribute to his enduring, pioneering and multifaceted contributions to the discipline of statistics. He was a world leader in the discipline. Along with Professor R.A. Fisher, Professor Mahalonobis is rightly credited for giving a distinct status to statistics as an independent scientific discipline and placing it among the world of modern sciences.

Professor Mahalonobis was not merely a great academician. He never accepted statistics as a purely academic discipline meant only for formal teaching and research. He conceived it as an essential and integral tool for guiding social and economic development. To put it in his own words:

"If the problem is one of theoretical nature, statistics supplies a valid method for drawing general conclusions from particular experience. If the problem is a practical one, statistics supplies the basis for choosing a particular course of action (in preference to other possible courses) by balancing the risks of gain and loss."

Prof. Mahalonobis believed that it was important to develop innovative statistical techniques appropriate to each social and economic sphere. In doing so he emphasized the universal applicability of tools of statistics in all major scientific disciplines. His pioneering contributions encompassed a wide range of areas of practical application. These included anthropology, educational testing and statistical quality control, on the one hand, and agriculture, flood control and meteorology on the other. There is indeed, practically no aspect of human endeavour in this country that his genius did not touched, directly or through the people he inspired.

Professor Mahalonobis was also a great institution builder. By founding the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931, and starting the world famous journal 'Sankhya' in 1933, he provided an institutional umbrella for catalyzing the spread of teaching and research in statistics. India today can proudly boast of having a distinct Indian School of Statistics - an achievement that few other scientific disciplines enjoy in our country. Certainly individual scientists have made path-breaking contributions in other disciplines, but in none have they created a special niche for India within the international order, as ISI has done in the field of statistics.

Professor Mahalonobis's recognition of the importance of institutional structures and his all-encompassing vision of statistics were also responsible for the active interest he took in developing the official statistical system in our country. He was appointed Honorary Statistical Adviser to the Union Cabinet in 1949 and was the Chairman of the first National Income Committee in 1950. He conceptualized and brought into existence, the two major pillars of the official statistical system in our country today, namely, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) for systematization and collection of administrative data and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) for conducting large scale sample surveys as a guide to policy planning. Indeed, the NSSO had its origin in the Indian Statistical Institute and became a part of the official statistical system only much later.

Prof. Mahalonobis also recognised that the decentralized statistical system in India and the federal principles of our polity require effective systems of coordination for the collection of statistics in such a large country. He, therefore, organized the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee in the Cabinet Secretariat and the biennial Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations, which provided sound institutional mechanisms for horizontal and vertical coordination of statistical activities in our country. At the international level, he contributed to the establishment of the United Nations Statistical Commission.

We celebrate Statistics Day today not only to honour the memory of this great man, but also to give due recognition to the fact that statistics affects and influences all major decisions we take, big or small in public life. Often in ways we may not even realize. As we progress in our path of development towards becoming a knowledge economy, and as we integrate with the international economic order, the role of statistics will become progressively more important. In such a situation, the hallmark of a country's reputation will be the credibility and transparency of its statistical system and the statistical data emulating from that system.

We are indeed fortunate that over the years we have been able to maintain the high standards of integrity in our official statistics. However, in such matters perceptions are as important as the reality. It is for this reason that our government took a major step last year by bringing into existence the National Statistical Commission, which is an independent body of professionals, for guiding the official statistical system. I am very happy that my esteemed friend, Professor Tendulkar is the Chairman of this highly prestigious national institution.

Its arms length relationship with the Government should give our official statistics enhanced international credibility and transparency. It should also help improve the level of confidence that people and organizations have in the confidentiality of the data that they provide, thereby improving both the completeness and the accuracy of the data so collected.

Of the wide-ranging mandate that we have given to the National Statistical Commission, two are of particular importance. The first is to evolve and lay down national quality standards in different fields of statistics; and the second is to exercise statistical coordination between central Ministries, Departments as well as State Governments. I appeal to all concerned to extend fullest possible cooperation to the National Statistical Commission and to actively seek its assistance in improving our statistical data bases.

Official statistics, of course, is only one part of the wide variety of data that is required by a modern dynamic economy. This Statistics Day is also meant to recognize the contribution of many statisticians who work in various academic institutions, private enterprises, non profit organizations and other institutions dealing with quality control. They all provide essential information required for optimal decision making in diverse fields. We should all be proud of our collective heritage in the field of statistics and resolve to take our country to the pinnacle of this very important discipline. I am certain that our young statisticians will continue to lead the world in theoretical and applied statistics, and bring a further sense of pride and accomplishment to our Nation. That will be a befitting tribute to the memory of Prof. P.C. Mahalonobis. I therefore feel a great sense of pride to honour Professor Mahalonobis by naming his birthday as 'Statistics Day'.

Thank you."