Reforming the Indian Census

Babu, P. G. and Kumar, Vikas (2023) Reforming the Indian Census. In: India’s Contemporary Macroeconomic Themes. Springer, pp. 571-582. ISBN 9789819957286

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Abstract

Newly independent India embarked on an ambitious project to transform the economy and society through five-year plans, but it did not have adequate data for this purpose. The government built a three-tier statistical system that aligned with the federal and decentralized structure of the polity. Over the following decades, the statistical system and economic planning grew hand in hand. When the economy was unevenly liberalized in the early 1990s, the statistical system was not restructured. This was a consequence of oversight as well as budget constraints due to structural adjustment. It is in this context that the government constituted the National Statistical Commission under the chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan in January 2000. The commission submitted its report in August 2001. The commission recommended an overhaul of the country's statistical system that led to the formation of the National Statistical Commission in 2005–06. A decade later, Dr. Rangarajan headed the Expert Group to Formulate a Jobs Plan for the State of Jammu and Kashmir (2010–11) that commented on the poor quality of data on employment. The quality of India's official statistics has been an abiding concern of Dr. Rangarajan. We would, therefore, like to use this occasion to discuss reforms to the decennial human population census.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Babu, P. G. and Kumar, Vikas
Document Language:	Language English (Full Issue)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Federal and decentralized structure, National Statistical Commission, C. Rangarajan, Jobs plan, State of Jammu and Kashmir
Subjects:	Social sciences Social sciences > Public administration > Specific fields of public administration
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Development
Full Text Status:	None
Related URLs:	DOI
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/5949
Publisher URL:	https://link.springer.com/

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