NEW DELHI: The government is considering the proposal of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to suspend publishing of IIP and inflation data till July 31, citing difficulty in collecting data due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
According to sources in MoSPI department, there is real difficulty in collecting data. “Due to the lockdown, collecting data has become a challenge. Sharing of information from states is delayed
and field officials are not being able to visit field. The limited data will not present correct picture of the economy,” a senior official with MOSPI said.
Given the present scenario, the official added that they have asked to discontinue publishing data till July 31. However, many officials in finance and Commerce Ministry feel that this may further create confusion, and has advised that the department publish the data and revise it later.
A final call however was not taken on this as there was no consensus so far on the matter. The provisional figure for CPI inflation for April was not released due to the nationwide lockdown.In general case scenario, the price data for calculation of CPI is collected from selected 1,114 urban markets and selected 1,181 villages through personal visits by field staff of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.
However, due to the lockdown, the price collection through personal visits of price collectors was suspended with effect from March 19, 2020.
Even now, most works are done telephonically. “This is not about not releasing data. We will be sharing it internally to concerned ministries. But will publish all these monthly numbers post July when things
become normal,” the official added.
The government has published IIP numbers for March and the next publication is expected on Tuesday. Typically, the IIP and inflation data are published on the 12th of every month. On similar grounds, the government has also discontinued publishing GST collection data since April, but it is expected to
resume it July end.