-Economic and Political Weekly In recent years, the Indian official data has been challenged for many reasons, most of them arising out of the perception that the government is reluctant to release unfavourable data. These doubts have been exacerbated by the controversy posed by the debate around Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Population Register, and National Register of Citizens and the weakening of established institutions like the National Statistical Commission. The COVID-19...

-The Indian Express The immediate cause for suspecting the genuineness of survey responses is the divergence in the estimates of households with access to toilets. Differences between survey estimates and comparable data from administrative sources are not surprising. The survey data are believed to present a more realistic view, especially when it relates to access to public goods and services. Generally, the distrust is more on administrative data from implementing agencies. While...

-The Indian Express Government data always come with limitations. Now, they have a political dimension A new data-related controversy has erupted after the government aborted the publication of the report of the household consumer expenditure survey (CES) conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) during 2017-18. This survey is one of the oldest series of surveys — undertaken by NSSO since the 1950s — and is the precursor to the...

-The Financial Express After former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s research paper re-started debate on GDP data, comments from other prominent economists have also started to pour in on the issue. After former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s research paper re-started debate on GDP data, comments from other prominent economists have also started to pour in on the issue. While some support the analysis and call for an independent committee to...

-The Telegraph Demand for work under the MGNREGA was at its highest in the 2018-19 fiscal The job crisis has deepened and become more commonplace during the last five years, according to officials familiar with employment data. Consider this: Demand for work under the national job scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), was at its highest in the 2018-19 fiscal. Started in 2006 to provide a fallback employment source to...