The resignation of the only two external members of the National Statistical Commission could have larger adverse implications, according to economist and former Union minister for planning Yoginder Alagh.
The commission's Acting Chairman PC Mohanan and Member JV Meenakshi stepped down on Monday citing reasons such as differences with the government and delays in releasing the National Sample Survey Office's report on employment for 2017-18, which was vetted by the commission. This leaves the commission with only two members—Chief Statistician Pravin Srivastava and NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation denied the charge.
YK Alagh, a former member of the then Planning Commission, said tampering with the nation's respected institutions can create serious problems for the economy.
I think some of this is very disturbing. Please remember that our statistics whether they are national account statistics or survey data are used for many purposes, including assessments of the country's prospects by international aide agencies as well as evaluation of loans to big projects. Indian statistics have had a fairly good reputation.YK Alagh, Economist And Former Union Minister.
The Congress accused the NDA government of destroying another institution.
One more venerable institution died on 29 January 2019 owing to malicious negligence by the government.
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