Prioritise collection of public health data: Panel | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The parliamentary standing committee on finance in its report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday on the statistics collection machinery in the country, has sought prioritisation of data collection related to public health for better policy formulation against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic.
The 31-member panel chaired by Jayant Sinha states that “in the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic, public health as such has become all the more crucial, requiring government support and active intervention”.
“The committee would, therefore, reiterate their earlier recommendation that health-related data collection and surveys be taken up by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) on priority basis, as such statistical inputs would be of immense help to both the central and state governments in formulating appropriate policy responses,” the panel stated.
The report adopted by the committee in September last year was tabled in both Houses of parliament on Wednesday. On the action taken in this regard, MoSPI had informed the committee that besides regular surveys, NSSO takes up other subjects as and when requested by ministries. The health ministry itself is conducting some health-related surveys on regular basis. MoSPI cited the survey conducted by NSSO during July, 2017 to June, 2018 on ‘Social consumption: Health’ as the recent initiative to build on data on the subject.
Further, the committee observes with concern that as on November 30, 2019 there were 785 vacant positions in the grade of senior statistical officer and junior statistical officer. While calling for urgently filling up all vacancies, the parliamentary panel has recommended that a study be conducted to figure out the reasons for high level of attrition from this sector.
The 31-member panel chaired by Jayant Sinha states that “in the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic, public health as such has become all the more crucial, requiring government support and active intervention”.
“The committee would, therefore, reiterate their earlier recommendation that health-related data collection and surveys be taken up by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) on priority basis, as such statistical inputs would be of immense help to both the central and state governments in formulating appropriate policy responses,” the panel stated.
The report adopted by the committee in September last year was tabled in both Houses of parliament on Wednesday. On the action taken in this regard, MoSPI had informed the committee that besides regular surveys, NSSO takes up other subjects as and when requested by ministries. The health ministry itself is conducting some health-related surveys on regular basis. MoSPI cited the survey conducted by NSSO during July, 2017 to June, 2018 on ‘Social consumption: Health’ as the recent initiative to build on data on the subject.
Further, the committee observes with concern that as on November 30, 2019 there were 785 vacant positions in the grade of senior statistical officer and junior statistical officer. While calling for urgently filling up all vacancies, the parliamentary panel has recommended that a study be conducted to figure out the reasons for high level of attrition from this sector.
Times View
Honest statistics may taste bitter, but they provide an accurate reflection of the ground reality, essential for sound policy making. The government must invest in adequate and quality manpower for statistics collection. Short cuts can lead to bad data and hence misguided policy.
