Kohima, May 20 (DIPR): To strengthen the department in finding out the exact figure in the data collection in all departmental activities, Parliamentary Secretary for economics & statistics and information & public relations, R Tohanba, convened officers of Economics & Statistics for an interaction here at the conference hall of the directorate of Economics & Statistics on May 19.
The Parliamentary Secretary pointed out that “power of supervision is needed as, in many ways, the department is declining”. Declaring the directorate of Economics & Statistics as a nodal agency for all statistics related activities, Tohanba said that they should not only observe but should know the truth or facts and disseminate the information to the people in time. He also said that they should not always talk about the leadership but progress in relation to the matters of statistical data collection with a clear picture.
Avoiding the grievances that come out right from the chowkidar to Director, they should have a spirit of subordination with obedience and coordinate with all the departments on their way to bring out the facts, he added. Tohanba further said that the department has to start out with capsule courses or seminars through which they can at least learn something by themselves. Mentioning that the Planning Commission of India has been depending on data on all departmental activities, he asked the officers and staff to take more care while collecting data.
Secretary at the Economics & Statistics department, Daniel Longchar, who also spoke during the interaction, said that all the departments should submit the data collection in time as only a few departments had submitted their up-to-date data. The Secretary also informed that they have received the Data Collection Act 2009 from the Centre which the state is going to implement. The department will organise the National Statistical Day on June 29 and it is likely to organise a seminar or conference on the occasion. Also informing that the registration of births and deaths has been strengthened and every unit Registration Official should take serious care to avoid illegal situations, Longchar stated that to maintain the check and balance by 2011, the census which has been scheduled should also be carefully planned from now.
During the interaction, the officers also voiced the need for a monitoring cell, data collection in stipulated time, monthly coordination meetings, etc., while also advising that booklets of the department should not be printed before proofreading by the officers. The session was chaired by the Director of Economics & Statistics, Nagaland.
