About Standing Committee: UPSC Current Affairs

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STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS

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Picture Courtesy: https://indianexpress.com/article/business/delay-in-census-centre-dissolves-panel-on-statistical-surveys-after-members-raise-concerns-9557883/

Context:

The Union Government has dissolved the Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS).

About the Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS)

It was established in July 2023 as a restructured version of the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES).
The 14-member committee supervises statistical surveys conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The objectives are to review survey techniques, collect and finalise data, make recommendations for pilot surveys, and identify data gaps.
The committee analysed the framework and made recommendations to improve survey methodology and sampling strategies.
The Government disbanded the SCoS in response to concerns over the delayed decennial census, which was planned for 2021.

Census in India

The census in India was initiated in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, but the first complete census was performed in 1881 under Lord Ripon.
The Census has been conducted every ten years since 1881, with the fifteenth held in 2011.
The census is conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Since 1951, all censuses have been conducted by the Census of India Act of 1948.
The last census was held in 2011, and the Census 2021 was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Census of India Act 1948 does not require the Union Government to conduct the census on a specific date or to release the results within a specified time frame.

Source:

Indian Express

Wikipedia

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs supervises the Indian census.

2. Seats in the Lok Sabha are allocated based on Census statistics.

3. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India is in charge of conducting the census.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

A) 1 and 2 only

B) 2 and 3 only

C) 1 and 3 only

D) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: D

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The Ministry of Home Affairs is in charge of conducting the Census, which is carried out by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

Statement 2 is correct: Census data is critical in deciding the distribution of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. Delimitation divides the country into electoral constituencies, based on demographic statistics gathered during the census.

Statement 3 is correct: The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India manages the whole census process, including planning, data gathering, and analysis.