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Source: The post is based on the article “Data goes private: Positive for India but also a challenge for the govt” published in the Business Standard on 5th November 2022.
Syllabus: GS3- Indian economy
Relevance: Importance of data for the economy.
News: The article explains the increasing importance of private data in India. It also explains the issues related to government data.
What is the importance of private data?
Developing economies will have new and multiple sources of data sets. Digitisation has made a huge difference. The growth of online selling and payment systems has created new sources of data on consumer behaviour. For instance,
-CMIE data provides the members related to employment. Its sample size matches those used by the government.
-The most trusted source of data on the true state of Indian school education is the Pratham foundation.
-IHS Markit’s purchasing manager’s index, which serves as a reliable guide to the economic indicators. CRISIL tells about the creditworthiness of companies.
-A private monsoon forecaster like Skymet has in at least some years done better than the government’s meteorology department.
What is the case of government data?
The quality of important economic statistics by the government which has no private substitute is questionable and its frequency is low.
There is no consumption survey data beyond 2011-12. The situation of employment statistics is similar. The government has suppressed numbers while trying to substitute the old accepted statistics with partial substitutes like the number of people with provident fund accounts. The census survey which was due in 2021 has not begun yet.
Some data by the government have become more frequent like the quarterly GDP data. Some data sets have seen improvements in methodology. Some have come out faster than before, like trade statistics and some are more transparent, like tax and fiscal data.
What is the way forward?
The dream of the third-largest economy is not possible without data. The data should meet the tests of speed, frequency, reliability and completeness. So, the government should improve its record of producing timely and reliable statistics.
