The Government has been celebrating the Statistics Day, to popularise the use of Statistics in everyday life and sensitise the public as to how Statistics helps in shaping and framing policies. It has been designated as one of the Special Days to be celebrated at the national level and is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis, on 29^thJune, in recognition of his invaluable contribution in establishing the National Statistical System.

This year it has been decided to celebrate the Statistics Day, 2020 virtually, in view of the travel and safety advisories on account of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be chaired by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation and Ministry of Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh. Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and President, Council of Indian Statistical Institute, Shri Pravin Srivastava, Chief Statistician of India-cum-Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, along with senior officers of Central/ State Governments and other stakeholders will be present on the occasion.

Prof Bimal Roy, Chairman, National Statistical Commission, Dr. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Prof. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Director, Indian Statistical Institute, International Participants from UN Women, UN ESCAP and other stakeholders will also participate in the event through video conferencing.

In 2019, the Ministry instituted a new award, namely, the Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics for recognizing outstanding achievement of official statisticians in Central Government, State Governments and Institutions. The Prof.P.C. Mahalanobis National Award winner, 2020 will be felicitated during the event.

The Ministry recognises the outstanding contribution for high quality research work in the field of applied and theoretical statistics benefitting the official statistical system through the Prof. C. R. Rao and Prof. P. V. Sukhatme awards, awarded in alternate years. For 2020, the award winner for Prof. P. V. Sukhatme will be declared during the event. The winners of ‘On the Spot Essay Writing Competition, 2020’ for Post Graduate Students on the subject relevant to Statistics organized at All India level will also be felicitated.

Every year, Statistics Day is celebrated with a theme of current national importance, which runs for a year by way of several workshops and seminars, aimed at bringing about improvements in the selected area. The theme of Statistics Day, 2019 was “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” and carrying this forward the theme of Statistics Day, 2020 is selected as SDG- 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) & SDG- 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). 

The updated version of the Report on Sustainable Development Goals-National Indicator Framework (NIF) Progress Report 2020 (version 2.1)will be released during the event. Along with the report, the Indian Statistical Services Cadre Management Portal will also be launched on 29^thJune 2020.

It is expected that these events will raise public awareness, especially among the younger generation, about the role of Statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. 

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VRRK/VJ