GREATER NOIDA: The National Statistical Systems Training Academy (NSSTA) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) marked its 18th Foundation Day on Thursday with a renewed emphasis on building a technology-enabled and future-ready statistical workforce to support India’s transition toward data-driven governance.
Addressing the gathering at the Mahalanobis Auditorium in Greater Noida, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh said official statistics remain the bedrock of evidence-based policymaking in a country as diverse as India, adding that strengthening institutional capacity is critical to improving governance outcomes and public ser
vice delivery.
The minister emphasized that statistical capacity building must move beyond traditional training frameworks and adopt technology-driven systems, including Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, to improve the accuracy, timeliness and global comparability of official statistics. He reaffirmed MoSPI’s commitment under Mission Karmayogi to expand training programmes and deepen collaboration with state statistical systems and academic institutions.
MoSPI Secretary Dr. Saurabh Garg described data as the “fifth factor of production” alongside land, labour, capital and technology, noting its growing role as the raw material powering artificial intelligence ecosystems and advanced policy analytics.
Highlighting recent reforms in the Indian Statistical Service (ISS), Garg said officers are now being deployed across nearly 60 ministries to ensure data harmonization, machine readability and seamless integration of datasets into decision-making frameworks. He added that the ministry’s mandate is evolving toward granular, district-level data dissemination to enable precision-driven policy implementation.
