Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 29
The Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Nagaland today organized a grand function to commemorate the 11th National Statistics Day under the theme “Administrative Statistics” at the Civil Secretariat Conference Hall.
Parliamentary Secretary for Economics & Statistics, Tovihoto Ayemi while gracing the occasion as the chief guest stressed on the need to create awareness among various stakeholders on the importance of reliable official statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. Ayemi said the objective of the National Statistics Day is to create public awareness among the people, especially the younger generation for drawing inspiration from Lt. Prof. Mahalanobis about the role of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation in the country.
He said the regularity, quality and completeness in the collection of administrative statistics are directly interwoven with the working of every government department. Official statistics thus provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation.
The Directorate of Economics and Statistics being the designated nodal agency of the Government of Nagaland for all statistics matter not only liaises with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) but also take up the official statistical activity in the state, he pointed.
Ayemi also released a book on the Sixth Economic Census Report, Nagaland.
Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said the National Statistics Day provides an occasion to reflect on the importance of statistics in our daily lives and in the process of planning and development.
Administrative statistics, he pointed, are information collected primarily for administrative purpose. It costs less, helps in faster collection of data and reporting through field offices including serving as a sampling frame for surveys to be used for cross checks. In spite of the progress made over the years, the quality of administrative statistics in the state needs improvement, adding that inconsistencies, limited coverage, delayed reporting and sometimes, nil reporting are some of the deficiencies observed.
Appraising the need to give more attention and thought towards maintenance of official records, the chief secretary called on all the departments to work towards improving quality of their respective administrative data by updating the system data collection towards availability of timely and authentic data. Adding that improved data will not only help manage the programmes better, but will also provide more realistic base policy formulation and planning, he stressed on the need to address the issue of quality administrative data in the state.
The programme was chaired by Kevileno Angami, secretary to Government of Nagaland while vote of thanks as proposed by Economics & Statistics director Y. Sacheo Ovung.
