Use statistics for welfare of society: Prof Punjabi

The minister for Rural Development, Ali Muhammad Sagar, on Monday said the Economics and Statistics service of the state shall also be brought at par with the national pattern. “The government is committed to provide sufficient space to the students of economics and statistics for entry in the Economics and Statistics organisation for rendering service to the people,” he said. Speaking at inaugural function of the commemoration of “Statistics Day” at Kashmir University, Sagar said, “Our government will take all the necessary steps for strengthening the statistical system in the state. The proposal submitted by the director general, Economics and Statistics Organisation, in this behalf is under examination in the Planning and Development Department. My whole hearted support will always be forth coming for all such initiatives aiming at systemic improvement and effective delivery.” Underlining the importance of statistical data in the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the government would take all the necessary steps to strengthen the statistical system in the state in tune with the latest developments in the national statistical system. ”The function was organized jointly by the KU’s Statistics and Economics departments and Directorate of Economics, J&K. Sagar said the government was envisioning the importance of statistical data in promoting and professing statistics for maximum welfare of the state through policy making, which is basked on sound statistical input. “The initiatives taken by the director general, Economics and Statistics, are highly appreciable and I must assure him that our government will support all the initiatives for strengthening planning and statistical machinery in the state,” he said. Addressing students and academics, Sagar said the Economics and Statistics service of the state shall also be brought at par with the national pattern. “And sufficient space shall be provided to the students of ecnonomics and statistics for entry in the E& S organisation for rendering service to the people,” he promised. The KU vice-chancellor, Prof Riyaz Punjabi, asserted that statistics was a technology that needed be used for the welfare of the society. “In the past three to four years, there has been a tremendous change in the statistical system at the national level,” he said. Prof Punjabi dwelt at length over the importance of statistics in development, planning and policy making. “The accurate statistical input can help the policy makers a lot in addressing the challenges they confront vis-à-vis development etc,” he said. The DG, E&S, G A Qureshi, dwelt at length over the achievements and contribution of the department over the years. “The department is soon bringing out a detailed data base plans of the level of Panchayats and blocks,” he said. Qureshi spoke about the activities undertaken by the department which include publication of village amenities directories, block statistical hand books, preparation of performance review of Jammu and Kashmir economy 2008-09 and pre-budget economic survey 2008-09. The head of the KU’s department of Economics, Dr A S Bhat, said that statistical data was extremely important for planning and policy making. “The main aim of this function is to raise awareness of governments, national agencies and community about the importance of statistics in any nation’s progress,” he said. The head of the KU’s department of Statistics, Prof Anwar Hassan, underlined the need to improve the statistics systems. The function was attended by scores of students, academics and officials, including the KU registrar, Prof S Fayaz Ahmad.