Indian Official Statistics: Part-III

This article is in continuation with “Indian Official Statistics: Part –II”. In Part-II, we had learnt about 3 Statistical Offices at the Centre. In this part, we shall learn about the rest 4 Statistical Offices at the Centre as well as about the Statistical Offices in the States.

(Continued)

1. Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS): This was set up in Calcutta in 1895 under the Ministry of Commerce and was the central statistical office responsible for the collection, compilation and publication of important all-India statistical series till the World War II.

In consequence, the DGCIS became responsible only for commercial intelligence and trade statistics. The licensing statistics and the balance of trade statistics relating to the country’s external trade are, however, handled by the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCIE) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), respectively.

The main publications of the DGCIS are:

(i)                  Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India (in two volumes),

(ii)                Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India by Countries,

(iii)               Accounts related to Inland (Rail- and River-borne) Trade Consignments of India (annual) and

(iv)              Indian Trade Journal (weekly)

1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES): This Directorate was set up in 1947 in pursuance of the decision of the Union Government to centralise all services relating to agricultural economics and statistics. Now attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the DES is the central co-ordinating agency responsible for the collection, compilation and publication of agricultural statistics at the all-India level. The data cover, besides agricultural proper (i.e. land utilisation, area under crops and crop production), livestock, forests and fisheries.

The important publications of the DES are:

(i)                  Indian Agricultural Statistics (annual)

(ii)                Estimates of Area and Production of Principal Crops in India (annual)

(iii)               Agricultural Situation in India (monthly)

(iv)              Indian Forest Statistics (annual)

(v)                Bulletin on Food Statistics (annual)

(vi)              Indian Livestock Census (quinquennial)

1. Labour Bureau: This office was set up in 1946 in the Ministry of Labour and Rehabilitation. Now, under the Ministry of Labour, the bureau has the following main functions-

(i)                  It collects, compiles and publishes statistics of employment is respect of factories, mines, plantations, shops, commercial establishments, etc., on all-India basis.

(ii)                It constructs consumer price index numbers.

(iii)               It carries our research into specific problems in order to furnish data that are required for the formulation of labour policy.

(iv)              It brings out pamphlets on different aspects of labour legislation.

The following are the important publications of the Bureau:

(i)                  Indian Labour Statistics (annual)

(ii)                Indian Labour Year Book

(iii)             Indian Labour Journal (monthly)

(iv)             Employment Review (annual)

(v)               Quarterly Employment Review

(vi)             Agricultural Wages in India (annual)

1. Army Statistical Organisation (ASO): The ASO was set up in 1947 to statistical assistance in all activities of the Indian Army. It is responsible for the maintenance of basic statistical records for the design, conduct and analysis of sample surveys and experiments, and for offering technical know-how on the application of advanced statistical techniques like operations research in the work of the Army.

The ASO has one of the largest mechanical systems in the country for data-processing. There is also a research unit concerned with the development of survey methods and operations research techniques.

1. Statistical Offices in the States

Since the years of the World War II, State Bureaux (now called Bureaux of Economics & Statistics) have been set up in all the States. The Bureau in a State has its functions.

1.                                                                i.      The co-ordination of statistics collected by different departments of the State Government,
2.                                                              ii.      The publication of abstracts assembling all essential statistical series
3.                                                             iii.      The maintenance of liaison between the statistical units in the State Departments on the one hand and the CSO and other statistical offices at the Centre on the other,
4.                                                            iv.      The organising of special enquiries and surveys,
5.                                                              v.      The compilation of economic indicators and income statistics for the state and
6.                                                            vi.      The undertaking of statistical work related to planning.

There are, however, some differences between the different SSBs (BESs) in respect of the responsibility for the collection of data. Thus while in some States the collection of statistics is almost centralised in the Bureaux, in others the collection of agricultural, labour and vital statistics is done by other departments. Practically all the Bureaux are now participating in the socio-economic surveys conducted by the NSSO.

Some are conducting on their own enquiries on subjects outside the scope of the NSS to meet the States’ specific requirements. Apart from the State Bureaux, there are in the States a network of statistical cells attached to the different State Government departments. Each of these cells collects and compiles statistics either to meet operational needs of the relevant department or at the instance of its Union Government counterpart.

The principal publications of a State Bureau are

(i)                  The Statistical Abstract (annual)

(ii)                The Statistical Bulletin (monthly or quarterly)