Two National Statistical Commission members quit over being sidelined by government
30 Jan 2019
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Two non-governmental members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) have resigned from their posts, in a move to protest against the sidelining body being sidelined.
PC Mohanan, the acting chairman of the NSC and JV Meenakshi, a member, have stepped down, leaving Amitabh Kant, the NITI Aayog chief, and Pravin Srivastav, the chief statistician, as the members. Having joined the NSC in 2017, their tenure was to last till 2020.
Mohanan told the media that they resigned as they were sidelined by the government and not being taken seriously. They were also unhappy with the delay in the release of the new National Sample Survey Office data.
The government has not been releasing the NSSO reports, but has been projecting statistics indicating generation of 18 million new jobs in the country between September 2017 and November 2018.
However, studies by various other bodies, both international and national, are contrary to the government’s claims. The International Labour Organisation said India’s unemployment rate could rise from 3.5 per cent in 2018 and there would be nearly 19 million jobless people.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said the December 2018 unemployment rate of 7.4 per cent was the highest in about 15 months. The rate had gone up significantly from 6.6 per cent in November.
