With two independent members of the National Statistical Commission quitting over non-release of job figures, the government Wednesday said the two had not expressed any concern in panel meetings, but the opposition Congress slammed it for destroying yet another institution.
P C Mohanan, who along with J V Meenakshi resigned earlier this week, cited delays in the release of the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) report on employment as one of the reasons for the decisions.
Stating that the National Statistical Commission (NSC) had recommended to release the employment report in January 2019, he said the members were sidelined and were "unable to discharge" duties.
Speaking to PTI, Mohanan had said: "I have resigned from NSC. We thought that the Commission is not very effective nowadays and we also thought that we are not able to discharge the Commission's responsibility".
However, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in a clarification stated: "These concerns were not expressed by the members in any of the meetings of the Commission in the last few months."
The ministry, it further added, values the advice of NSC and takes appropriate action.
Referring to the issues concerning labour force survey, which is conducted by the NSSO under MoSPI, it said: "NSSO is processing the quarterly data for the period, July 2017 to December 2018, and the report will be released thereafter."
It further said in view of India's strong demographic dividend and around 93 per cent of the informal workforce, it is important to improve measures of employment through administrative statistics and complemented by periodic surveys.
"In this direction, MoSPI has started bringing out estimates of new subscribers and members enrolling in large social security schemes like the Employees' Provident Fund, Employees' State Insurance Scheme and the National Pension Scheme," said the statement.
The new members enrolling in these schemes are a good measure of the numbers in the workforce moving towards formalisation, it added.
The Congress was, however, quick to seize on the issue with former finance minister P Chidambaram saying his party mourns the death of the NSC and will remember its valiant fight to release 'untainted' GDP data and employment data.
His colleague Ahmed Patel said the resignations serve the government's objective to "black out" all data and statistics of its "mis-governance", while party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi wondered if this has come in the wake of the "very embarrassing" jobs data and whether the NSC was "being forced" by government to do more data doctoring.
"One more venerable institution died on 29 January 2019 owing to malicious negligence by the government," Chidambaram tweeted. "We mourn the death of the National Statistical Commission and remember with gratitude its valiant fight to release untainted GDP data and employment data. May the NSC rest in peace until it is re-born again."
Patel said the resignation of all non-government members from the NSC has rendered yet another public institution "defunct and toothless".
"It also serves the government's larger objective to black out all data and statistics of its mis-governance since last 5 years," he said. "Government must immediately release the unemployment report which it is trying to withhold. The report and the Commission which prepares such reports belong to the people of India and not to any political party. The government has no business to sit on it because the findings don't suit them," Patel tweeted.
Singhvi also said statisticians have quit the government over differences in "job data in actuality and being projected by the government in the election season".
"Modinomics is all about ModiStats," he charged.
On the back-series data of the GDP, the ministry statement said that the NSC had itself advised the ministry to finalise and release it.
The official estimates of the GDP back-series were accordingly computed using the methodology adopted in the 2011-12 base year series and this was approved by the experts in the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics, which is the appropriate body, it said.
The issue was later discussed in the NSC, the statement said, adding that the methodology adopted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for the back series is available in the public domain.
The back-series GDP data generated controversy after it was revealed that the growth rate during Congress-led UPA government was not as high as it was estimated earlier.
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