Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr. P.K. Mishra, yesterday attended the 20th Statistics Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. In his address, Dr. Mishra paid tribute to Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis on his birth anniversary, recalling his seminal contributions alongside eminent statisticians like Professor C.R. Rao and Professor P.V. Sukhatme. During the event, he congratulated the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on releasing its Vision Document 2026–31, the Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report, and the first city-level estimates of labor markets and informal enterprises, while also felicitating Professor Arup Bose on receiving the Sukhatme National Award.
Highlighting Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of data-driven governance, Dr. Mishra stated that the journey towards Viksit Bharat must be anchored in reliable data. He noted that key macroeconomic indicators, including GDP, the Consumer Price Index, and the Index of Industrial Production, are being updated with new base years to reflect India's evolving economy. Addressing historical challenges like outdated datasets and fragmented architecture, Dr. Mishra lauded MoSPI's comprehensive reforms from 2020 to 2025, which saw the acceptance of 216 expert recommendations implemented via modern methodologies like Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and digital platforms including e-Sankhyiki, GoIStats, PAIMANA, and e-SAKSHI.
Focusing on this year's theme, "Unlocking the Potential of Administrative Data," Dr. Mishra emphasized that India’s rapid digital transformation has created vast repositories of administrative data that should be treated as a strategic national asset. He called for integrated, interoperable data ecosystems among Central Ministries, States, and Union Territories using the National Metadata Structure 2.0. Concluding his address, Dr. Mishra underscored that while Artificial Intelligence offers transformative opportunities for governance, its adoption must be guided by strong governance frameworks to ensure quality, privacy, accountability, and the absolute independence of official statistics.