BS Number Wise: The late and lagging government annual reports

Just over half the ministries, departments and autonomous bodies released these crucial documents for 2020-21

Government data is instrumental for policy decisions. The United Kingdom’s census in the 1830s shaped the Great Reform Act of 1832, which provided voting rights to a larger group. In the 1850s and 1860s, census results in the United States helped determine the population of enslaved and freed people. In India, the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011 formed the basis of a need-based classification of households.

Like the census, annual reports by government ministries detailing their work are a vital source of information for Indian policymaking. For some time now, ministries are missing deadlines to publish their reports.

The reports