13th National Statistics Day Celebrated in Nagaland

KOHIMA: The 13th National Statistics Day with the theme 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' was celebrated here on Saturday. The event was organised by the State Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The Day is an annual event and is celebrated every year ever since the Government of India declared June 29 as the 'National Statistics Day' in 2006. It is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis who was an Indian scientist and applied statistician and is considered as the father of modern statistics in India. He is best remembered for the 'Mahalanobis Distance' -- a statistical measure -- and for being one of the members of the first Planning Commission of free India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute in 1932 and contributed to the design of largescale sample surveys, stated a release.

Y Sacheo Ovung, Director, Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) spoke on the theme 'Sustainable Development Goals' at the event. The Director called upon his colleagues and staff to examine as to what extend the prevailing statistical system in the State caters to the need for rational monitoring of the 'Sustainable Development Goals' indicators for achieving the goals set globally. He further added that the 2030 agenda for 'Sustainable Development' are a set of 17 goals aimed at achieving a better world by 2030 and was first adopted on September 25, 2015 by 193 countries at the 70th summit of the United Nations. “The challenges of getting a comprehensive unified data to monitor the SDGs indicator are enormous. High quality and accurate data are a requirement to measure the achievement of all sustainable development goals through the defined indicators. "As the nodal department for all statistical activities in the State, preparing the 'State Indicator Framework' for the SDGs on line with the 'National Indicator Framework', it is the responsibility of our department to upgrade the prevailing statistical system to meet the challenges and bring forth a reliable and unified data,” he said.

He encouraged his staff to reassess the existing setup of collecting and analyzing data and plan a roadmap containing the actions to be initiated in providing a robust statistics to the various stakeholders implementing the 'Sustainable Development Goals'. He concluded by saying , “As aptly coined by the United Nations ‘leaving no one behind’ let the intervention of our department translate progress of socio-economic development in our State to every region and for all citizens.”

The programme was chaired by DES Deputy Director Theyieneinuo Belho. The Additional Director of DES, R Kronu in his keynote address explained about the significance of the 'National Statistics Day' and shared in detail about the life and works of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. Asang yim and group members presented a special number while DES Joint Director P Singson extended the vote of thanks.

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