This press release is being issued to clarify on the recent media reports covering the internal restructuring of MoSPI. The National Statistical Commission, under the Chairpersonship of Dr. C. Rangarajan, had, inter-alia, recommended for the creation of National Statistical Office (NSO) to be headed by a National Statistician, with appropriate autonomy and independence for producing Official Statistics as is prevalent in other countries. The Government, while accepting the recommendations, had approved the establishment of NSO to be headed by Chief Statistician of India by merging the then Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) and National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) to form the NSOin May, 2005. The NSO was in existence since then to serve as the executive wing of the Government in the field of statistics, andthe Chief Statistician of India (CSI) & Secretary was itssole functionary. In the restructuring exercise, the administrative, coordination and planning activities of MoSPIhave also been brought into NSO, which continues to be headed by CSI & Secretary, for providing requisiteadministrative support to the statistical activities ofMoSPI.

2.   The internal restructuring exercise was undertaken with a view to have greater synergies amongst the available statistical manpower and improve data quality not only for survey data but also for administrative statistics.To monitor India’s progress in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, MoSPI has formulated a National Indicator Framework which requires significant data to flow from the field formations and requires extensive use of technology. This requires active and continuous involvement of State Governments, and the field presence of NSS in the States, with their knowledge and experience of official statistics system,can play a proactive role in this process,in addition to their existing functions. In the ongoingSeventh Economic Census, the field officersof Field Operations Division, NSSare playing a prominent role in the supervision of data collection from households and enterprises.

3.  The internal restructuring of MoSPI is to strengthen the national statistical system while maintaining its autonomy. The various divisions in MoSPI continue to perform their functions as before. Further, the role and status of National Statistical Commission (NSC) remains unaltered and it continues to have the overall responsibility for providing strategic direction and leadership to the national statistical system in MoSPI, line Ministries and State Governments.

4.  The Ministry also remains committed to making available official statistics and reports to various users. In fact, MoSPI has revised its guidelines for statistical data dissemination and data are now being made available to all users, free of cost.

National statistical system autonomy strengthened through MoSPI restructuring, consolidating NSO and expanding state-level data roles. Restructuring consolidates CSO and NSSO into the National Statistical Office (NSO) headed by the Chief Statistician of India, with MoSPI's administrative, coordination and planning functions brought into NSO to provide administrative support to statistical activities while maintaining autonomy. The reorganisation seeks greater synergies among statistical manpower, improved data quality for surveys and administrative statistics, support for the National Indicator Framework for SDG monitoring requiring state involvement and field presence, and continued roles for MoSPI divisions and the National Statistical Commission; dissemination guidelines have been revised to make official statistics freely available.