Bhubaneswar: Strengthening the quality and reliability of official data, the Odisha government has decided to appoint dedicated Data Officers in various departments and involve district Collectors in statistical surveys to improve data collection and dissemination across the state.
The decisions were taken at the first meeting of the State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC), chaired by Chief Secretary Anu Garg at Lok Seva Bhawan Wednesday.
The meeting focused on improving coordination between the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and the state government for strengthening statistical activities.
The committee also decided to include discussions on statistical activities in meetings of departmental Secretaries and organise consultative workshops both before the commencement of surveys and after the publication of survey reports.
The meeting was attended by Development Commissioner-cum-Additiona Chief Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh, departmental Secretaries, Deputy Director General of MoSPI and other senior officials.
During the meeting, Director of Economics and Statistics, Odisha, presented an overview of ongoing initiatives, highlighting National Sample Surveys (NSS), the Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (SQAF) and the adoption of Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) for price statistics.
The discussions also covered the preparation of the District-level Consumer Price Index (CPI), compilation of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and District Domestic Product (DDP), data dissemination policy and harmonisation of administrative data.
The committee emphasised strengthening the State Statistical System through better institutional coordination, capacity building and adherence to national statistical standards.
The SLCC will serve as a platform for joint reviews and coordination between MoSPI and state agencies.
It will also support monitoring of the National Indicator Framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), besides improving the timeliness and credibility of official statistics.