Minding the gaps in India's data infrastructure (Poor data will derail the India story)

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 Minding the gaps in India's data infrastructure (Poor data will derail the India story)

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• A large economy with complex needs : Indian economy's rapidly growing needs and govt. programmes need very robust, modern and scaleable data collection systems. In the absence of it, the entire national discourse will be confused, like it was with GDP calculations, and poverty issues. 
• Evidence-based policies : Strong data collection and analysis institutions alone can help politicians and policy-makers make proper policies, rooted in reality (and not imagination alone). One good example is the continuation of the NFHS - National Family Health Surveys. Started in 1992-93, its four rounds and 25 years were completed recently!
• Anomalies : Sadly, the systems and methods of data collection are not improving with time, but deteriorating. An example - Between 2005-06 to 2015-16, the TFR (total fertility rate) declined from 2.68 to 2.18 births, but the contraceptive use also went down from 56.3% to 53.5%. Apparently, data collection hasn't been good.
• Chief Statistician of India : Pravin Srivastava has noted that today's governments want every possible kind of data on everything. But he warned that the once-respected Indian statistical infrastructure was crumbling and new demands are unment.
• Governments to blame : Over the past 20 years, many errors of omission and commission have led to the decay.
• Suggestions for future improvements :

1. FIRST - Set realistic goals and use creative  strategies : The sample size at district level was raised from 1 lakh households (NFHS-3) to 6 lakhs in NFHS-4. Data quality deteriorated fast. Actually, household surveys may not be the best way to get data on health and population. Alternative methods are possible – pooling data sets from Ayushman Bharat payments, Census and sample registration systems.
2. SECOND - Adapt to changing technology and institutional structures : A key reason for dropping quality of data is the move from regular govt. employees to private contractors in NSSO, and for-profit firms for NFHS. Why was it done? Rising govt. salaries, and new technologies. But quality control has fallen behind in new system. We need to orient, train and retrain the field investigators (of private firms) compassionately, regularly and strictly.
3. THIRD - Establish research units focused on data collection and research design. The way data is collected needs to be researched regularly (not happening today). For example - "Who responds better to telephonic surveys - men or women?" Research methods have changed dramatically, but we aren't using them.

• Go systematic : Since data collection and analysis is the foundation of policymaking, time to improve is now.
• Summary : In a large nation like India, sound policymaking needs robust data gathering and analysis.

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