Chairman’s Message on Statistics Day 2024
It is my proud privilege that the Government of India resolved to declare National Statistics Day to coincide with the birthday of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis during my tenure as the Chief Statistician of India. This was not only a nationwide recognition of the importance of Statistics in practically every facet of human inquiry and endeavor, but also a tribute to the role that Prof. Mahalanobis played in developing and demonstrating the use of Statistics, not just in India but across the world.
The Indian Statistical Institute, which Prof. Mahalanobis established to give institutional substance to his vision, has played a stellar role in both advancing Statistics as an academic discipline and in guiding its use in a wide range of areas, including formulation of government policies.
Today it seems inconceivable that any policy can be made without it being based on sound statistical analysis. “Evidence-based policy” has become a catchphrase in policy circles across the world, but such was not always the case. It is not too long ago that policies were mostly made on the basis of heuristics or “gut feeling”. India should be justly proud of the significant role it has played in this transition.
However, let it not be thought the task is over and we can coast from here on out. New issues, new challenges, new possibilities arise every day, and old habits die hard. All of us who have devoted our lives to the development and popularisation of Statistics have to continue to rededicate ourselves to these tasks. Statistics Day marks the occasion for such rededication. I am certain that we shall continue the path that we have taken with increasing commitment and vitality.
I wish the entire statistical community, and the Indian Statistical Institute in particular, all success for the coming year.
“Pronab Sen”
