Govt launches eSankhyiki data portal to mark India’s Statistics Day

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) on Saturday launched an eSankhyiki portal with the objective of establishing a comprehensive data management and sharing system for ease of dissemination of official statistics in the country.

The portal (https://esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in) aims to provide timely inputs for planners, policy-makers, researchers and the public at large. The eSankhyiki Portal has two sections facilitating easy access and re-use of data, the Ministry said.

The first section is a Data Catalogue that lists the National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, Annual Survey of Industries, Periodic Labour Force Survey and Household Consumption Expenditure Survey in one place.

The second covers Macro Indicators. The section includes time series data of key macro indicators with features for filtering and visualisation. It also allows users to download custom datasets, and visualisations and enables access to them through APIs, thereby increasing the re-usability of data. At present, this section includes National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, and Annual Survey of Industries, encompassing the data of the last 10 years.

Statistics Day is celebrated in the country In recognition of the notable contributions made by Professor (late) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics and economic planning.

The main objective of celebrating Statistics Day is the creation of public awareness, especially among the younger generation, on the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation for the development of the country.

The theme for Statistics Day, 2024 is "Use of data for decision-making". The concept of data-driven decision-making is important for making informed decisions in any field.

The Chief Guest on the occasion, Arvind Panagariya, Chairman, of the 16th Finance Commission highlighted the role of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis in shaping the Indian Statistical System. He also urged that India should continue its data-driven policy-making in order to move along its development trajectory.

Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, Chairman of the National Statistical Commission emphasized the need to make the data more accessible and usable. He also stressed the need for the interoperability and linking of databases generated by various agencies through coordination among stakeholders.

Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI while addressing the audience highlighted the recent initiatives of the Ministry for reducing time-lag in survey data like Computer-Aided Personal Interview (CAPI), new surveys, user engagement exercise and the newly launched eSankhyiki portal.

Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva, Global Director for the World Bank Group’s poverty and equity global practice made a presentation on the global experience of using data for decision-making. He emphasised that data is an essential infrastructure for effective policy-making while sharing prevalent global practices.

Based on the updated Sustainable Development Goals - National Indicator Framework (SDGs- NIF), MoSPI released three progress reports on SDGs with time series data. These reports can be accessed at the MoSPI’s website (www.mospi.gov.in).