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A strong and reliable Statistical System to evaluate how much of the fruits of development reach the poor, is the need of the hour said the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Oscar Fernandes at a function here today, to celebrate the 112th birth anniversary of Prof.P.C.Mahalanobis. He said that the Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh underscored this at the just concluded National Development Council Meeting. The Minister pointed out that the Centre should know how much the masses are benefiting, as a consequence of the gigantic developmental efforts undertaken by the Administration. He said this is also necessary for the effective implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme of the government. Efforts must continue in research to strengthen the Indian Statistical System for creating a strong database to facilitate socio-economic planning and policy formulation. And in this, involvement of the young minds is essential, he said.
Releasing a CD i.e. a Software package containing data on a large number of development indicators upto sub-district level, Shri Oscar Fernandes said, the package evolved in collaboration with UNICEF will go a long way in providing reliable official statistics and information on India. The database contains nearly 300 social sector indicators with different sub populations and units, for various geographical levels. It is capable of mapping 5464 blocks of 579 districts in 35 States and Union Territories. It also has a separate section, which contains global statistics compiled by UN organisations. The CD is a storehouse of information on various aspects of India.
To mark the birth anniversary of world-repute Indian Statistician, Scientist Prof.P.C.Mahalanobis, who was instrumental in the formulation of Socio-economic Developmental Programmes of free India, the Minister gave away national awards in Statistics to a number of young aspirants. The main national award in Statistics named after Prof.C.R.Rao for the year 2004-05, was conferred on Prof.Probal Chaudhuri of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, by Shri Oscar Fernandes. He recalled that the International Award in Statistics named after Prof.P.C.Mahalanobis was recently given away in Sydney to Ugandan Prof.Ben Kiregyera and noted that Prof.Kiregyera was a product of the Kolkata Institute, .
Pointing out that India had produced a number reputed statisticians, who are contributing their mite world-wide, the Minister also stressed the need to evolve methodologies to develop short-term indicators on the performance of social and economic activities both at the national and sub-national level. He laid particular emphasis on environmental statistics as well as the National Accounts Statistics adjusting for environmental costs. The focus of applied research should be on optimizing the sample size and reducing the respondent burden in our surveys, the Minister added.
The Mahalanobis Memorial Lecture was delivered by Prof.B.L.S.Prakasa Rao, on the occasion.
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