The Union Minister of State for Statistics & Programme Implementation (Independent Charge), Minister of State for External Affairs & Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs General (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh, has said that theme of social development chosen for the Statistics day is relevant and is related to various themes of development set by the Prime Minister. Addressing the main function relating to the 9^th National Statistics Day in New Delhi today, he called upon Statisticians to use technology to analyze the data to make it relevant for interventions to be made in specific areas for the development of the society. He said the Government is looking for a focused interventions the areas like education, health, sanitation etc. He said the proposed ‘Time Use’ survey of people both in paid and unpaid work by his Ministry should contribute for understanding and taking decisions for improving the productivity of the nation.

 The Chairman of the National Statistical Commission Dr. Pronab Sen has said that most of the larger problems have been addressed as a part of the development agenda and now the data collection and analysis needs to be different to address specific problems in identified and focused areas. The Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Dr. T.C. A. Anant said that it is now time to review the social development in the country as a part of review of the millennium development goals in 2015. He said statistical tools should be improved to be able to measure various social developmental parameters of the society.

 The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been celebrating the Statistics Day every year since 2007 to create public awareness, especially among the younger generation for drawing inspiration from Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis about the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning, policy formulation and good governance.

 In recognition of the notable contributions made by him in the fields of statistics and economic planning, Government of India has designated 29th June every year as the “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Days for celebration at the national level to mark his birth anniversary.

 On this occasion, National Awards in Statistics, constituted in the Honour of Prof. C.R. Rao were conferred by General (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh to Dr. Hukum Chandra, Scientist, IASRI and Dr. Pulak Ghosh, Professor IIM, Bangalore.

 The theme selected for 9th Statistics Day was ‘Social Development’ in view of the contribution and importance of this sector to Indian economy. The main theme paper on “Social Development Statistics: Current Status, Issues and Challenges” was presented by Central Statistics Office.

 The 9th Statistics Day 2015 was also celebrated all over India by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, State Governments, Offices of NSSO spread throughout the country, Indian Statistical Institute, Universities/Departments, etc. by organizing Seminars, Conferences, Debates, Quiz Programmes, Lecture Series, Essay Competitions, etc.

Social development statistics urged to guide targeted interventions and improved measurement for education, health, sanitation policy. Social development statistics are prioritised to enable targeted policy interventions in education, health and sanitation through improved data collection and analysis; a proposed Time Use survey will measure paid and unpaid work to inform productivity and social policy decisions. The annual Statistics Day and national awards are used to promote public awareness, strengthen statistical capacity and encourage use of data in socio-economic planning and the review of development goals.