Delay could make 7th Economic Census data trivial, says House panel

The standing committee on finance has come down heavily on the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) for delay in release of the 7th Economic Census data that captures the geographical spread of economic activities, ownership pattern, and people engaged in the establishments.

The 7th Economic Census was launched in 2019 and it took more than three years to complete the survey, except in West Bengal and a few pockets of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Census provides a crucial set of data for framing policies and planning for the government. The committee has observed that the undue delay could make the data irrelevant.

The committee in its 44th report tabled in Parliament in March had recommended that MoSPI should release the Economic Census without any further delay lest the data becomes infructuous. However, in its action-taken report submitted in June to the committee, MoSPI said approvals from states and Union Territories were not forthcoming for the 7th Economic Census data.

“The approval of provisional results of Census at state level is the mandate of the state-level coordination committee (SLCC) constituted under the chairmanship of chief secretaries of state/UTs. Concerted efforts are being made by the ministry to coordinate/liaison with the state/UTs for early convening of SLCC meetings and approval of state-level provisional results of the Census, and thereby enabling the Ministry to release the results of the Census,” it said.

However, the standing committee was not convinced by the argument of MoSPI. “The committees are constrained to note that the ministry has furnished a routine reply regarding the growing delay in the release of the Economic Census making the data on some items/samples irrelevant or outdated for stakeholders to be used as parameters. They have now sought to shift the onus on states/UTs for not being forthcoming in giving approval of provisional results of the Census,” the standing committee chaired by Lok Sabha member Jayant Sinha said in its latest report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.  

The standing committee said it was the responsibility of MoSPI to follow up with states/UTs for early examination of provisional results and approval by the state level coordination committees to enable the Ministry in releasing the all India results at the earliest. “Thus, the Ministry has to squarely assume responsibility in this regard, as it is being conducted by them as a central sector sub scheme. It is high time that the Ministry should expedite the process of enumeration and produce reliable data publicly. The committee desires that the identification of states should be done which are lagging behind in giving their approvals and accordingly corrective steps to be taken to identify the problem areas and difficulties encountered by these states and appraise the committee in this regard,” it added.