As many as 108 economists and social scientists have expressed concerns over ‘political interference’ in statistical data and have called for the restoration of ‘institutional independence’ and integrity of statistical organisations. Raising concern over the authenticity of India’s official data, the group said that any numbers that cast doubt on the government’s achievements seem to get ‘revised or suppressed’. The call over the credibility of these data comes against the backdrop of controversy over the revision of gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and withholding employment data by the NSSO, news agency PTI reported.

These economists and social scientists also said that for decades, India's statistical machinery enjoyed a high-level of the reputation for the integrity of the data it produced on a range of economic and social parameters. “It (statistical machinery) was often criticised for the quality of its estimates, but never were allegations made of political interference influencing decisions and the estimates themselves,” they said in an appeal.

In a letter published on Thursday, the group appealed to all professional economists, statisticians and independent researchers to come together to raise their voice against the tendency "to suppress uncomfortable data" and impress upon the government to restore access and integrity to public statistics and re-establish institutional independence.

The signatories of the letter include Rakesh Basant (IIM-A), James Boyce (University of Massachusetts at Amherst, US), Emily Breza (Harvard University, US), Satish Deshpande (Delhi University), Patrick Francois (University of British Columbia, Canada), R Ramakumar (TISS, Mumbai), Hema Swaminathan (IIM-B) and Rohit Azad (JNU).

Commenting on the statement, P C Mohanan, who resigned as acting chairperson of the National Statistical Commission, said that it is a timely message and political parties should take notice of sentiments expressed by the economists. “The message is very timely and relevant in the backdrop of the recent issues and the concerns expressed by these eminent people...It is important that political parties take notice of this,” Mohanan told PTI.

The economists and social scientists said it is imperative that the agencies associated with collection and dissemination of statistics like the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) are not subject to political interference and their work, therefore, enjoys total credibility.

The 108 experts, from across the globe, further said that in fact, any statistics that cast an iota of doubt on the achievement of the government seem to get revised or suppressed on the basis of some questionable methodology. “The reputation of India's statistical bodies in the country and globally is at stake,” they added.