More than 500 economists and social scientists from India and across the world demand the release of release of NSSO consumption survey data by the Indian government

Signatories include Nobel Prize winners Angus Deaton and Nicholas Stern, along with Thomas Piketty, PeterLanjouw, Christophe Jaffrelot and many eminent Indian economists.

We the undersigned demand that the Government of India releases the report and data of all NSSO Surveys that have been completed and approved by the NSSO’s internal systems, including the results of the 75th round Survey of Consumer Expenditure, 2017-18.

A media leak published in Business Standard has revealed that the 2017-18 Consumer Expenditure Survey shows a sharp decline in average consumption. It has been suggested that the survey results are not being released because they support other evidence that the economy is experiencing a downturn. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has now announced that the results of the survey will not be released at all, because they show a higher divergence with the “administrative data” than for earlier surveys.

It should be noted that consumption surveys are known to give results that diverge from macroeconomic estimates of the National Accounts. Also, National Accounts estimates are based not only on administrative data but on a combination of sources including NSSO and other surveys. Several committees have looked into these discrepancies. While further work can be done to identify sources of and reduce these discrepancies, the common understanding has been that the flaws lie as much in the methods deployed for arriving at macroeconomic estimates as they do in surveys.

Consumption surveys are crucial for monitoring trends in poverty and inequality, and are also of critical value for national income accounting, and for updating macro-economic data such as price indices. They can provide an important check on administrative and macroeconomic data, which is important both for policy makers and the general public. The fact that data on supply of goods and household consumption are diverging points to the need for questioning supply side data (which are being widely questioned within and outside India) as much as it points to the continuing need for improving survey methods.

It is of fundamental importance for the nation that statistical institutions are kept independent of political interference, and are allowed to release all data independently. The record of the present government on this score has been very poor. Until recently, India has good cause to be proud of its statistical system, and the sample surveys conducted by the NSSO have served as a shining example and a model to the rest of the world. While there has been much discussion and debate about the methodology of the surveys, these have been scientific and technical in nature, devoted to trying to improve the system to enable better measures of crucial indicators.

However, this government has chosen to attack the credibility of this pre-eminent statistical institution simply because the results of the surveys do not accord with its own narrative about the economy, without providing any adequate reasons, and by misrepresenting essential features of the surveys. It has repeatedly shown its disinclination to make public any information that may show its own performance in a poor light. Last year, before the parliamentary elections, the results of the Periodic Labour Force Survey were not allowed to be released until the Parliamentary Elections were over, despite the resignation of two members of the National Statistical Commission, and a leak in the media. Subsequently, results of other surveys including the 75th round (Consumer Expenditure), 76th round (Drinking water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Housing Conditions) and more recent quarterly data of the PLFS surveys, have not been released.

This suppression of essential data is terrible for accountability and for ensuring that citizens have the benefit of official data collection that is paid for with their taxes. It is also counterproductive for the government, which may be kept in the dark about actual trends in the economy and therefore not be able to devise appropriate policies. Undermining the objectivity and credibility of an independent statistical system is fundamentally against the national interest.

In the interest of transparency and accountability, all data must be released without delay and irrespective of what the results are. The government may wish to defend itself against interpretations of the statistics that it disagrees with. But this is best done through technical papers and seminars. To prevent release of data that are adverse, and diverge from its own understanding, is neither transparent nor technically sound.

Indeed, in order to produce transparent and robust information on distribution, it is also important for the government to grant researchers access to (anonymous) tax microfiles.

We therefore demand that the government should immediately release the report and unit-level data of the 75th Consumer Expenditure Survey. The government should also commit to release all other survey data after the usual processes to check for possible errors have been concluded.

Signed

1. A Vaidyanathan, Former Member, Planning Commission
2. A K Shiva Kumar, Ashoka University
3. A V Jose, Visiting Fellow, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram
4. Abhijit Sen, former Member, Planning Commission
5. Abhirup Sarkar, ISI Kolkata
6. Achin Chakraborty, IDS, Kolkata
7. Aditya Bhattacharjea, Delhi School of Economics
8. Aijaz Ahmad, University of California, Irvine
9. Ajit Zacharias, Levy Institute, Bard College, New York
10. Alejo Julca, Independent researcher
11. Alex M. Thomas, Azim Premji University
12. Alicia Puyana, Flacso, Mexico City
13. Alpa Shah, London School of Economics
14. Aman Bardia, New School for Social Research, New York.
15. Amit Basole, Azim Premji University
16. Amit Bhaduri, Emeritus Professor, JNU
17. Amitabha Bhattacharya
18. Amiti Sen, Journalist
19. Amiya Bagchi, Emeritus Professor, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
20. Anamitra Roychowdhury, JNU
21. Andres Lazzarini, Goldsmiths University, London
22. Angus Deaton, Princeton University
23. Anita Dixit, Pratichi Institute
24. Anjana Thampi, IWWAGE, New Delhi
25. Anup Sinha Retired Professor of Economics IIM Calcutta
26. Anwar Shaikh, New School for Social Research
27. Arindam Banerjee, AUD, Delhi
28. Arjun Jayadev, Azim Premji University
29. Arthur MacEwan, University of Massachusetts Boston
30. Ashok Kotwal, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver
31. Ashwini Deshpande, Ashoka University
32. Astha Ahuja, University of Delhi
33. Atul Sood, JNU
34. Atul Sarma, Visiting Professor, ISID, New Delhi
35. Atulan Guha, IIM, Kashipur
36. Ayushya Kaul, Jamia Millia Islamia
37. Avinash Kumar, JNU
38. Awanish Kumar, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai
39. B Srujana, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research
40. Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor, Oxford University, and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
41. Ben Fine, SOAS
42. Bhanoji Rao, Governing Board Member, GITAM and IFHE Universities
43. Bharat Ramaswami, ISI Delhi
44. Bibhas Saha, Durham University
45. Bindu Oberoi, University of Delhi
46. Biswajit Dhar, JNU
47. Byju, V, Thiruvananthapuram
48. C P Chandrasekhar, Retired Professor, JNU
49. C Saratchand, University of Delhi
50. Carlo Cafiero, Senior Statistician, FAO
51. Chalapati Rao KS, ISID, Delhi
52. Chirashree Das Gupta, JNU
53. Chris Baker, Editor, Siam Society
54. Christophe Joffrelot, Sciences Po and King’s College London
55. D Narasimha Reddy, University of Hyderabad
56. D Narayana, Former Director, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation
57. Daniela Gabor, University of West England, Bristol
58. David Kotz, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
59. Debabrata Pal, JNU
60. Debraj Ray, New York University
61. Deepak K Mishra, JNU
62. Dev Nathan, Institute for Human Development
63. Devaki Jain, ISST, New Delhi
64. Devika Dutt, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
65. Dilip Mookherjee, Boston University
66. Dinesh Abrol, ISID, Delhi
67. Dipa Sinha, AUD
68. Dipankor Coondoo, Retired Professor, ISI
69. Dipankar Dey, Dept of Business Management, Calcutta University
70. E. Ahmet Tonak, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
71. E Bijoykumar Singh, Manipur University
72. Emanuele Citera, The New School For Social Research
73. Farzana Afridi, ISI, Delhi
74. Francesco Saraceno, Sciences Po
75. Frédéric Deve, formerly Senior Policy and Governance Officer, FAO
76. Gaurav Khanna, University of California, San Diego
77. Gautam Gupta, Former Professor, Jadavpur University
78. Gerald Epstein, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
79. Giovanni Andrea Cornia, University of Florence
80. Hanjabam Isworchandra Sharma, Manipur University
81. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Trent University, Canada
82. Hema Swaminathan, IIM Bangalore
83. Himanshu, JNU
84. Indra Nath Mukherji, JNU
85. Indraneel Dasgupta, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
86. Indranil Chowdhury, University of Delhi
87. Indranil Mukhopadhyay, OP Jindal University
88. Ingrid Kvangraven, York University
89. Iqbal Singh, Akal University, Bathinda
90. Ishan Anand, Ambedkar University, Delhi
91. Ishita Mukhopadhyay, University of Calcutta
92. J. Mohan Rao, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
93. Jan Breman, University of Amsterdam
94. Jan Kregel, Levy Institute
95. Jason Hickel, Goldsmith College, London
96. Jayan Jose Thomas, Economist, New Delhi
97. Jayati Ghosh, JNU
98. Jens Lerche, SOAS
99. Jesim Pais, SSER
100. John Harriss, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
101. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University
102. Joydeep Baruah, OKD Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati
103. Kalyani Menon-Sen, Feminist Learning Partnerships
104. Kathleen McAfee, San Francisco State University
105. K J Joseph, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation
106. K N Harilal, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
107. K Nagaraj, Retired Professor, MIDS
108. K P Kannan, Retired Professor, CDS
109. K V Ramaswamy, IGIDR
110. Kumarjit Mandal, University of Calcutta
111. Kunibert Raffer, retired Associate Professor, University of Vienna
112. Lawrence King, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
113. Lucas Chancel, Co-Director, World Inequality Lab
114. M S Bhatta, Retired Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia
115. M S Sriram, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
116. M Vijayabaskar, MIDS
117. Maitreesh Ghatak, LSE
118. Mahalaya Chatterjee, Calcutta University
119. Malabika Majumdar, Retd. Professor, University of Delhi
120. Mandira Sarma, JNU
121. Martin Ravallion, Georgetown University
122. Mary E John, CWDS
123. Mira Shiva, Public Health Physician
124. Mridul Eapen, Member, Kerala State Planning Board
125. Mritiunjoy Mohanty, IIM, Kolkata
126. Mustafa Özer, Anadolu University
127. Mwangi wa Githinji – University of Massachusetts, Amherst
128. Nalini Nayak, SEWA, Kerala
129. Naveed Ahmad, Department of higher education Jammu and Kashmir (cluster University Srinagar)
130. Narender Thakur, University of Delhi
131. Nicholas Stern, LSE
132. Nisha Biswas, Scientist
133. Nishith Prakash, University of Connecticut
134. Nitin Sethi, Independent journalist
135. Oliver Braunschweig, The New School for Social Research
136. Padmini Swaminathan, independent researcher, Chennai
137. Parthapratim Pal, IIM Calcutta
138. Pasuk Phongpaichit, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok
139. Peter Lanjouw, Development Economics Research Group, World Bank
140. Prabhat Patnaik, Emeritus Professor, JNU
141. Pranab Bardhan, University of California, Berkeley
142. Pranab Kanti Basu, Retired Professor, Visva Bharati University
143. Praveen Jha, JNU
144. Priya Mukherjee, William & Mary, Virginia
145. Pulin B Nayak, Retired Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
146. R Nagaraj, IGIDR
147. R Ramakumar, TISS
148. R V Ramana Murthy, University of Hyderabad
149. Radhika Desai, Independent Feminist Researcher and Consultant, Hyderabad
150. Ragupathy, Goldsmiths University, London
151. Rahul Roy, ISI, Delhi
152. Rajah Rasiah, University of Malaya
153. Rajesh Madan, Noida
154. Rajeswari Sengupta, IGIDR
155. Rajesh Bhattacharya, IIM, Kolkata
156. Rajiv Jha, University of Delhi
157. Rakesh Ranjan, University of Delhi
158. Ramaa Vasudevan, Colorado State University
159. Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, The India Forum, and Visiting Professor, Goa University
160. Ranjan Ray, Monash University
161. Ranjini Basu, Focus on the Global South
162. Ratan Khasnabis, Adamas University, and Retired Professor, Calcutta University
163. Ravindran Govindan, Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies, Trivandrum
164. Ritu Dewan, Director (retd), Dept of Economics, University of Mumbai
165. Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
166. Rohini Hensman, writer and independent scholar
167. Rohit Azad, JNU
168. Romar Correa, University of Mumbai
169. Rosa Abraham, Azim Premji University
170. Runa Sarkar, IIM Calcutta
171. S Krithi, TISS, Hyderabad
172. S. Subramanian, Retired Professor, MIDS
173. Sagari R Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance
174. Saikat Sinha Roy, Jadavpur University
175. Samarjit Das, ISI, Kolkata
176. Sanjay Reddy, The New School for Social Research
177. Santosh Das, ISID, New Delhi
178. Saradindu Bhaduri, JNU
179. Sarmistha Pal, Surrey Business School
180. Satish Deshpande, Delhi University
181. Satyaki Roy, ISID, Delhi
182. Saumyajit Bhattacharya, Delhi University
183. Seema Kulkarni, SOPPECOM, Pune
184. Servaas Storm, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
185. Shambhu Ghatak, Senior Associate Fellow, Inclusive  Media for Change
186. Shantanu De Roy, TERI University
187. Shiney Chakraborty, ISST, New Delhi
188. Shipra Nigam, Consultant Economist, New Delhi
189. Shouvik Chakraborty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
190. Shuji Uchikawa, Senshu University, Japan
191. Shyjan Davis, University of Calicut
192. Siwan Anderson, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
193. Smita Gupta, Economist
194. Smitha Francis, ISID, New Delhi
195. Snehashish Bhattacharya, SAU
196. Sona Mitra, IWWAGE, New Delhi
197. Stefano Zambelli, University of Trento, Italy
198. Suchetana Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur University.
199. Subin Dennis, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research
200. Sudha Narayanan, IGIDR
201. Sudhir Kumar Suthar, JNU
202. Sudip Chaudhuri, IIM, Kolkata
203. Sudipta Bhattacharyya, Visva Bharati
204. Sujata Patel, NIS, Shimla
205. Sukanta Bhattacharya, University of Calcutta
206. Sushil Khanna, IIM, Kolkata
207. Sripad Motiram, University of Massachusetts Boston
208. Sunanda Sen, Retired Professor, JNU
209. Surajit Das, JNU
210. Surajit Mazumdar, JNU
211. Suresh Aggarwal, Former Professor, Department of Business Economics, University of Delhi
212. Suranjan Gupta, New Delhi
213. T Sabri Öncü, Former Head of Research, CAFRAL
214. Takahiro Sato, Kobe University
215. Taposik Banerjee, Ambedkar University, Delhi
216. Thomas Piketty, Paris School of Economics
217. Upasak Das, University of Pennsylvania
218. Utsa Patnaik, Emerita Professor, JNU
219. Uttam Bhattacharya, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
220. Vamsi Vakulabharanam, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
221. Velupillai Kumaraswamy, former Professor, University of Trento and New School University
222. Venkatesh B Athreya, Professor of Economics (Retired), Bharathidasan University
223. Vikas Rawal, JNU
224. Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India, and former member,UGC
225. Yoshifumi Usami, University of Tokyo

Signatories of the Online Statement