Curriculum How India Counts Itself
How India Counts Itself
Inside India's statistical system: who produces official data, Mahalanobis's legacy, the delayed census, the GDP measurement debate, consumption surveys and poverty numbers, the inflation basket, factory output, family health surveys, administrative data, trust in statistics, district data and better data for policy.
- Who Counts India? How India's official statistics are produced by the Ministry of Statistics, the National Statistical Office, the RBI and line ministries, and why good data matter for policy. 📄 Read-aloud
- P.C. Mahalanobis and Indian Statistics How statistician P.C. Mahalanobis founded the Indian Statistical Institute, pioneered large sample surveys, and shaped India's early planning. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Delayed Census Why India's census, held every decade since 1881, was postponed from 2021, the costs of relying on old population data, and plans for the next count. 📄 Read-aloud
- The GDP Measurement Debate How India changed its GDP methodology in 2015, why some economists argued growth was overstated, and how the debate shows the challenges of measuring a large informal economy. 📄 Read-aloud
- Consumption Surveys and Poverty Numbers How India measures household spending and poverty, why the 2017-18 survey was scrapped, and what the 2022-23 and 2023-24 surveys showed. 📄 Read-aloud
- What's in India's Inflation Basket? How India's Consumer Price Index is built from a basket of goods with weights from consumption surveys, why food has a large weight, and why the basket is being updated. 📄 Read-aloud
- How India Counts Itself: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on India's statistical system, Mahalanobis, the census, GDP and consumption surveys. 5 questions
- Measuring Factory Output: The IIP How the Index of Industrial Production tracks monthly output in mining, manufacturing and electricity, its limitations, and how businesses and the RBI use it. 📄 Read-aloud
- The National Family Health Survey How the National Family Health Survey measures health, nutrition, fertility and household conditions across India's districts, and why its data are so widely used. 📄 Read-aloud
- Administrative Data: GST, EPFO and UPI How data generated by government systems like GST filings, EPFO payrolls and UPI payments are increasingly used to track the economy, and their pitfalls. 📄 Read-aloud
- Trust in Official Statistics Why statistical independence matters, controversies over withheld Indian data in 2019, and how countries build trust in official numbers. 📄 Read-aloud
- Measuring States and Districts Why India needs reliable data for states and districts, how district GDP and indices like the Aspirational Districts dashboard work, and gaps in local data. 📄 Read-aloud
- Better Data for Better Policy How India can improve its statistical system with timely surveys, new technology and independence, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud