Streamlining statistics
Cabinet approves proposal to make NSB lead agency on all national data
5 March, 2010 – In a bid to strengthen the country’s statistical system, the cabinet has approved a proposal to pool scarce resources, create a common processing system and establish uniform standards so that data generated is consistent and reliable.
“The idea is to avoid duplication and inconsistency,” said Kinga Tshering, the director of the national statistical bureau (NSB), which will now be the lead agency on all data generated within the country. “Almost every survey in the country repeats the same questions with differing definitions and standards at times.”
Kinga Tshering said the approved proposal would also address the problem of coordination – one of the biggest weaknesses facing the country’s statistical system today. “Given that we’re a small country we shouldn’t be having such a problem,” he added. Even though a lot more statistics are available today, users are often confused about its accuracy because of inconsistencies.
The proposal seeks to create a statistical services system, where all statistically trained personnel in the country are brought under NSB. This is to ensure that statisticians in different ministries are accountable to NSB in generating data that is timely, relevant and reliable. Such an arrangement is also aimed at developing a professional cadre of statisticians in the country.
According to the proposal it will make carrying out multi-sectoral surveys more cost effective, help in creating a national data repository and generate data that supports planning and decision making.
A shortage of trained and qualified manpower, lack of internationally accepted standards and methods, which have led to delays in publication and poor quality data, are some of the issues facing the statistical system, according to NSB officials. NSB has 59 staff, including 20 district statistical offices. There are only 13 statistically personnel in other organisations.
According to Kinga Tshering, even as there was an increase in data demand, both nationally and internationally, NSB had limited control over field statistical personnel, and statisticians in other organisations were given responsibilities other than statistics.
These were some of the reasons that why the erstwhile central statistical organisation (CSO) had remained weak and incapable of meeting the country’s statistical data needs.
Kinga Tshering said that, in the past, efforts to strengthen the statistical system came from outside the system. “This time the proposal is from us, the people who’ve worked in the system for several years and understand its problems and weaknesses,” he said.
During the cabinet meeting on March 2 that approved the proposal, the prime minister, Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley urged NSB “to explore ways to also generate data beyond the conventional method to reflect Bhutan’s more holistic GNH model of development, using the latter’s four pillars, nine domains and 72 indicators. “We’ll be meeting with the GNH commission and the centre for Bhutan studies later this year to review the indicators and plan for a survey,” said Kinga Tshering. “Perhaps we can correlate the living standard survey to GNH indicators.”
He said that NSB was also thinking of ‘Greening GDP’, which means including all environmental issues, from disasters to air quality, in the measure of GDP.
Source: kuenselonline