India's data deficiency

Govt should collect and release timely economic data

A major constraint for policymakers devising strategies to protect Indian citizens and businesses from the vicissitudes of the pandemic has been the paucity of quality, high-frequency data. It is unusually difficult to construct policies when there is no clear sense of how this unprecedented crisis has affected household and business activity — from employment availability to migration to consumption choices. Some datasets from the private sector have been used to proxy for broader indications about prosperity or economic recovery. Economists and investors have also turned to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE’s) Consumer Pyramids Household Survey, or CPHS. The