22-05-2025
Former MP flags data gaps in ready reckoner of government
Former MP and Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (PMMMK) president M. Ramadass has said that the new edition of the document 'Puducherry at a Glance 2024' was lacking in crucial data and demographic facets pertaining to the Union Territory.
In a statement, Mr. Ramadass said the compilation released by the Chief Minister recently did not, for instance, have any data for 2004-2005. The statistics in the brochure relate to the year 2023-24 and previous years.
The demographic information for the year 2024 is that of 2011 data, agricultural data of 2015 and the State income data of 2022-23. 'It is inappropriate for the publication of 2024 to state the population of Puducherry and other demographic facets in terms of 2011 data,' he said.
Although no census was undertaken after 2011, the population of 2024 should have been projected through growth rate approach and all the demographic variables such as total population, men, women, children, old age composition, rural - urban population, Scheduled Caste population etc., should have been presented, he said.
The PMMMK founder felt that the Department of Economics and Statistics should have attempted to construct the Human Development Index of Puducherry on the basis of the methodology evolved by the Government of India. The environmental data is also conspicuous by its absence. Puducherry is extensively affected by pollution of air, water, noise and traffic and there are proven methods of measuring them.
Mr. Ramadass also suggested that the State Domestic Product (SDP) and per capita income, the barometers of development, should have been presented with better insights. The component-wise sources of SDP should have been furnished instead of confining only to primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
Further, the current price State income and per capita income should be shown at constant prices also, so as to estimate the real growth sans inflation. For assessing the regional disparities in growth, region-wise SDP data should also be given. In the case of agriculture, details of productivity, crop intensity, wages, disparities in region-wise distribution of land should be provided.
The publication may prove more utilitarian if the inadequacies or data gaps on a range of critical indicators are rectified. The respective departments should initiate necessary action in this regard and present the data in the next publication, he said.
