(a) whether the Government has convened a meeting of the Central and the State Statistical Organisations;
(b) if so, the details of issues on which deliberations have been held ;
(c) whether the Government has taken any steps to strengthen the statistical system in the
country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof ?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE), MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
(SHRI G.K.VASAN)
(a) Yes, Sir. The 14th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (COCSSO) was
organized during 10-11 April 2007 at New Delhi.
(b) The two-day programme of the Conference included discussions on:
(i) Strengthening of State Statistical Bureaus including Core Statistics and role of
Statistical Advisers;
(ii) Basic Statistics for Local level Development; and
(iii) Problems in Horticulture Statistics. Besides these three core subjects, the processing
of State Sample Data of National Sample Surveys; and standardized set of statistical
products/publications for the States were also discussed.
(c) & (d) The following steps have been taken to strengthen the statistical system in
the country:-
i) A Bill to replace the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953 has been introduced in the
Rajya Sabha to facilitate better collection of primary statistics;
ii) National Statistical System is also mandated to evolve national strategies for the
collection, tabulation and dissemination of core statistics; and
iii) The Ministry has initiated a project aimed at strengthening the State Statistical
System as part of India Statistical Strengthening Project in the 10th Plan and Phase-II
of the project is continuing in the 11th Plan.