Dr Radha Binod Barman, an eminent statistician, has taken over as the part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission. Prof. S. Mahendra Dev, Prof. Rahul Mukherjee, Dr Rajiv Mehta and Dr Manoj Panda are the other part-time Members in the Commission. The Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog is the ex-officio Member in the Commission. The Commission is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to enhance public trust in official statistics.

National Statistical Commission

• The Government of India ordered setting up National Statistical Commission on 1 June 2005 on the recommendation of C. Rangarajan Commission.
• The National Statistical Commission (NSC) of India is an autonomous body which formed in July 2006.
• The objective of its constitution is to reduce the problems faced by statistical agencies in the country in relation to a collection of data.
• Statistical agencies like the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) face numerous problems in collecting data from State and Central government departments, but an autonomous body like the NSC is thought to be more able to coordinate things as a statutory status would lend it teeth.
• It would lay special emphasis on ensuring collection of unbiased data so as to restore public trust in the figures released by the Government.