NATIONAL STATISTICS DAY 2022: June 29, marks the occasion of National Statistics Day, which is observed to celebrate the notable contribution in the fields of economic planning and statistical development made by Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. June 29 also marks the birth anniversary of Mahalanobis, popularly known as the father of Indian Statistics.
National Statistics Day: History
In the post-independent era, Mahalanobis emerged as one of the key figures in the field of collecting essential statistical data that further allowed the government to set policies. After graduating with honours in physics from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1912, the academician moved to England to study physics and mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
Statistics Day 2022 to be celebrated on 29-06-2022 with the theme ‘Data for Sustainable Development'
The Day is celebrated since 2007, to mark the birth anniversary of late Indian scientist & statistician, Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
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— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 28, 2022
After returning from England, Mahalanobis taught at the Presidency College for a few years and later established the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta in 1931.
Mahalanobis is also credited with establishing the National Sample Survey in 1950, whose objective was to provide comprehensive socio-economic statistics. He also set up the Central Statistical Organisation to coordinate statistical activities in India.
Mahalanobis was also a member of the Planning Commission of India from 1955 to 1967. The Planning Commission’s Second Five-Year Plan relied on Mahalanobis’s mathematical description of the Indian economy, which later became known as the Mahalanobis model.
National Statistics Day: Significance
The government of India decided to designate June 29, coinciding with Mahalanobis’ birth anniversary, as Statistics Day to be celebrated at the national level. The report to this effect was published in the Gazette of India on June 5, 2007.
For his pioneering work, which also included serving as the chairman of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Sampling from 1947 to 1951 and appointment as the honorary statistical adviser to the government of India in 1949, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, one of India’s highest honours in the year 1968.
