-The Telegraph State had reported only 1,753 cases and three deaths to National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control till June Calcutta: The Bengal government is not releasing figures on dengue deaths or the exact area-wise demarcation of zones reporting the maximum number of cases, ostensibly to avoid panic. However, several public health experts contested the purported justification, saying clear communication would be far better to fight a public health scare than the...

-The Hindu Caste data will help us understand the contours of inequality and craft reasoned and inclusive policies The debate about whether the decennial Census should collect data on caste from individuals who fall into the administrative categories of ‘General’ and ‘Other Backward Classes’ (OBCs) has been argued by public intellectuals, politicians, and government administrators for decades. As the Census currently only collects data on ‘Scheduled Castes’ (SCs) and ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (STs),...

-The Indian Express As of now, the government does have a calender for release of data sets such as national accounts, Index of Industrial Production and inflation. But there are no specific timeline for release of labour force statistics and consumption expenditure surveys. Putting in place a release calendar for all official economic data sets and ensuring their timely release is key to restoring the credibility of India’s statistics, according to Pronab...

-The Hindu When data is monetised, as the Economic Survey advocates, it becomes toxic and harms public interest Last year, I was denied information requested under the Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005. I had sought the names of agencies empanelled by the Unique Identification Authority of India for an “image makeover” and the expenditure on it. It was denied by invoking the exemption clauses of Sections 8(d) and 8(j), respectively, i.e....

-The Hindu Why the recent undermining of the credibility of India’s statistical output is especially regrettable Over the past two months, Indian national statistics and the organisations that administer them have faced a volley of criticism. In January, two independent members of the National Statistical Commission resigned in protest, over alleged suppression of economic data by the government. More recently, amidst growing scepticism regarding India’s official statistics, more than a hundred scholars...