Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Tuesday, said data prepared through research, survey and scientific means is useful and is the foundation of good governance that supports public welfare and maintains pace of development. The establishment of a data analytics platform, based on the National Data Analytics Platform (N-DAP), will be considered in Madhya Pradesh, he added.
The N-DAP is a special initiative of NITI Aayog to improve the access and use of government data. The platform collects and hosts data sets from India’s vast statistical infrastructure.
Chouhan was virtually addressing the inauguration programme of the Evaluation and Impact Assessment Centre (EIAC) established at AIGGPA (Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal) as part of a three-day conference. The CM also released the SDG Progress Report-2023 published by State NITI Aayog Madhya Pradesh.
Chouhan said the EIAC will monitor the impact of government policies and observe the changes in the lives of people which will help in the assessment of the effects of government schemes, projects and programmes.
Economists, researchers and representatives of development-related organisations are participating in this three-day (September 11 to 13) conference that includes a workshop on child and gender budgeting and a capacity-building programme to strengthen the statistical system.
‘Concrete efforts made for data self-sufficiency’
CM Chouhan said in the era of information, life cannot be imagined without data which has also become a source of knowledge. The capacity for data collection and analysis has been continuously enhanced in the state. The work of transferring money directly to the accounts of 1 crore 30 lakh women in the state has been possible due to reliable and systematic data availability. Earlier, the state lacked the capacity for reliable data collection and analysis, which was its weakness. Concrete efforts were made to increase self-reliance in the field of data through efforts like re-orientation of the State Policy Commission and Institute of Good Governance, creation of Statistical Commission, data-based Sustainable Development Goals, child budgeting and gender budgeting, he added.
CM Chouhan congratulated the office-bearers of partner organisations— UNICEF, United Nations Representatives, ADB, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis Bhopal (AIGGPA) and State Policy Commission—for organising the conference.
Chouhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the mantra of ‘reform, perform and transform’. “Madhya Pradesh is playing an important role in the accomplishment of this mantra. The newly opened EIAC will assess the impact of the government schemes on the common people and their lives. The work of evaluating the schemes, presenting evidence and giving constructive suggestions for improving the schemes can also be done through the centre.”
Child and gender budgeting
Chouhan said while gender budgeting was started in Madhya Pradesh from the year 2007; outcome-oriented child budgeting was adopted in 2022. This workshop will highlight the usefulness of child and gender-sensitive budgeting for the holistic development of the state.
Sachin Chaturvedi, vice chairman, Madhya Pradesh State NITI Aayog, said Madhya Pradesh is the first state to form a Statistics Commission. Training has also been given to the youth in the state to assess the impact of the schemes. The CM adopted the suggestion of third-party assessment of schemes given by the 15th finance commission. On lines of the Asian Development Bank, Madhya Pradesh has set up a system to evaluate implementation of schemes, he added.
‘Conference shows state’s commitment on kids’ growth and development'
Cynthia McCaffrey, Representative of UNICEF India, who was present at the conference, praised the government of Madhya Pradesh for convening the conference that aims to bring the landmark commitments of the G20 Leaders' Summit to Madhya Pradesh.
“UNICEF appreciates India’s leadership, throughout this important presidency for keeping the spotlight on investing in the SDGs, and on children. India and Madhya Pradesh have made great progress in making plans and budgets child-responsive.
"Child responsive budgeting is a strategy to integrate national and state development plans and budgets with child rights commitments. India today is looked upon as a leader on child and gender-responsive budgeting, especially in South Asia. This conference in Bhopal shows the state's commitment in advancing children’s growth and development and will go a long way in reaching Every Child in the State of Madhya Pradesh,” McCaffrey said.
She added that UNICEF was committed to work with the government of India, the state governments and other partners in advancing their commitment for the well-being of women and children.