India's data blues

Statistical Commission resignations point to a deeper problem

The resignation of two non-official members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) on Wednesday raises several questions over the way the government treats inconvenient economic data. The NSC is an autonomous body formed in 2006 and is mandated to evolve policies, priorities and standards in statistical matters; it also approves statistical reports produced by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). The twin resignations, that of P C Mohanan, the acting chairman, and J V Meenakshi, mean that the NSC now has just two functioning members out of the seven that it is supposed to have. The posts of full-time chairman