Two independent members of the National Statistical Commission, P.C. Mohanan and J.V. Meenakshi, have resigned over disagreement with the government on delays in the release of the new NSSO employment survey data, which was vetted by the statistical body.
Mohanan was also the acting chairperson. With the two members quitting, the NSC now has only two members—Chief Statistician Pravin Srivastava and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. "The two members have resigned from the National Statistical Commission and tendered their resignation on January 28, 2019," an official said.
Media reports said that the new survey data, called ‘periodic labour force survey’, has not been made public even though it was approved by the NSC in December. The report, part of the first Annual Survey on Employment and Unemployment, gives a picture of the jobs created in the post-demonetisation period.
The NSC, under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), is to have seven members, as per its website. Already, three posts were vacant.
The tenure of Mohanan and Meenakshi was to end in June 2020. They joined as members in June 2017.
In November last year, the NITI Aayog had come under fire for announcing the revised GDP data of the UPA years.
NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Chief Statistician Srivastava had announced the back-series data by the government.
(With PTI inputs)