108 economists, social scientists raise doubts on credibility of govt data

They said it was imperative that agencies like CSO and NSSO are not subject to political interference

A group of 108 economists and social scientists on Thursday questioned the credibility of India’s official data. The economists, from top Indian and foreign institutes, also called upon their colleagues from across the ideological spectrum to impress upon the government, irrespective of the party in power, “to restore access and integrity to public statistics, and re-establish institutional independence and integrity to the statistical organisations”.

“The national and global reputation of India’s statistical bodies is at stake. More than that, statistical integrity is crucial for generating data that would feed into economic policy-making and that would make for honest and democratic public