India’s statistical system must keep pace with the country’s development ambitions to meet the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra said on Tuesday.
Mishra said India's statistical systems must evolve alongside an increasingly digital, formalised and interconnected economy. "Our statistical architecture must be as modern and ambitious as our national aspirations,” he said.
“The quality of our data influences the quality of our decisions and development outcomes,” Mishra said, emphasising the importance of credible statistics, data harmonisation and technology-enabled governance.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Conference of State Planning, Finance and IT Secretaries, organised by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi), Mishra noted that statistics are not merely an administrative requirement but a strategic national asset.
"What cannot be measured cannot be managed effectively. And what cannot be managed effectively cannot be transformed sustainably," he noted.
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Calling India's development story "fundamentally a story of its States," he sought stronger institutional capacity and closer Centre-state coordination to improve the quality of official statistics. A robust statistical system, he noted, must enable governments to measure development progress across states and districts, assess policy outcomes, identify gaps and ensure that public resources deliver the intended results.
He said national averages alone would not suffice as India moves towards 2047, and granular data at state, district and local levels would be increasingly necessary.
Mishra said artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, geospatial systems, satellite imagery and advanced analytics offer significant opportunities to improve official statistics, but cautioned that technology must remain guided by statistical quality, transparency, privacy, security and accountability. "Speed cannot come at the cost of accuracy. Greater use of data cannot come at the cost of confidentiality," he said.
He emphasised that AI and advanced analytics can strengthen official statistics but cannot substitute for statistical quality.
He called for a collective national effort involving Mospi, state statistical offices, finance, planning and IT departments, NITI Aayog, academic institutions and other stakeholders.
He said India needs a statistical architecture that is trusted, transparent, technology-enabled, interoperable and policy-relevant to help guide the country towards the Viksit Bharat goal.