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Professor PC Mahalanobis was among the first to argue that policymaking needed to be anchored in data, not assumptions
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In 1947, as India gained independence, it faced a fundamental question — how do you plan for a nation if you do not know its realities? Reliable data on India’s people, economy, and resources was scarce. That is when Professor PC Mahalanobis, a scientist by training and statistician by conviction, stepped forward with an idea that continues to shape India’s development journey.
The establishment of the National Sample Survey in 1950 marked a turning point, providing, for the first time, structured insights into India’s complex social and economic fabric. By 1956, when Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata — an institution founded by Mahalanobis — the world was already taking note of India’s approach to development, grounded in science, statistics, and careful measurement.
It is fitting that every year, India celebrates Statistics Day on June 29, marking the birth anniversary of Mahalanobis. This year’s celebration is special, as it also marks 75 years of the National Sample Survey (NSS) — one of India’s oldest and most reliable data systems, founded under Mahalanobis’s leadership.
Born in 1893, Mahalanobis trained as a physicist but turned to statistics because he believed that understanding a nation required more than observation — it required measurement. He was among the first to argue that policymaking needed to be anchored in data, not assumptions. His work on sample surveys and statistical design became instrumental in shaping India’s economic planning during the early years after Independence.
Launch of NSS
In 1950, under Mahalanobis’s leadership, the NSS was launched with a clear purpose: to collect regular, scientifically sound data on agriculture, employment, consumption, and other critical sectors. The first survey round, modest in scale, covered just over 1,800 villages. But it introduced methods that were considered advanced for their time — stratified random sampling, interpenetrating subsamples, and an emphasis on national representativeness.
Mahalanobis often reminded policymakers and statisticians that “Statistics must have a clearly defined purpose, one aspect of which is scientific advancement and the other, human welfare.”
Over the decades, the NSS has provided critical insights into India’s socio-economic conditions. Its surveys have guided Five-Year Plans, welfare programmes, and poverty assessments. More quietly, they have also shaped how researchers, State governments, and development agencies engage with the realities of Indian society.
But Mahalanobis’s contribution was not just institutional — it was philosophical. He challenged statisticians to continuously improve methods and adapt to the needs of a diverse, complex country. That approach continues to inform the NSS today.
In recent years, several reforms have modernised the system. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has enabled more frequent tracking of employment trends. The use of Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) has replaced outdated manual data collection, improving speed and accuracy. The upcoming Household Income Survey, planned for 2026, will provide the first comprehensive national-level income estimates, addressing a long-standing data gap.
Other efforts, such as the Time Use Survey, have widened the scope of official statistics to include unpaid work, care-giving, and informal economic activity— areas historically under-counted in conventional surveys.
Despite these advances, the challenges facing India’s statistical system have grown more complex. The economy is more digital, urbanisation is accelerating, and new forms of employment and consumption require updated tools. Mahalanobis’s emphasis on scientific rigour remains relevant, but so does his belief in constant innovation.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is now expanding the statistical framework by integrating satellite data, exploring mobile-generated information, and testing the use of scanner data from retail markets.
Mahalanobis’ belief that data must serve both scientific inquiry and human welfare continues to shape how India responds to its most pressing development challenges. In 1950, NSS field investigators carried paper forms to remote villages, asking basic questions about livelihoods. Today, the same surveys use digital tablets, satellite maps, and mobile technology to gather complex data in real time. What hasn’t changed is Mahalanobis’s core idea — that policy must be rooted in data, carefully collected and scientifically analysed.
Yadav and Jain are Deputy Directors, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Views are personal
Published on June 28, 2025
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