Section 383 in The Collection of Statistics Act, 2009
383.
Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The Collection of Statistics Act, 1953 (the Statistics Act) was enacted to facilitate the collection of statistics of certain kinds relating to industries, trade and commerce. Its provisions have been used in conducting the Annual Survey of Industries. The State Governments have also used the said Act to collect data in areas not covered by the Central Government. Briefly, the above said Act has so far been used for the purpose of collecting information from a limited segment of the industrial sector.2. During the years, it is felt that the provisions of the Statistics Act are not adequate to meet the new challenges arising out of liberalisation and globalisation regime manifested by the WTO Agreement. The need for statistical information for planning and policy formulation has been expanded over the years due to market driven economy in various sectors necessitating a re-look at the Statistics Act.3. All those issues were studied by the National Statistical Commission appointed by the Central Government. The Commission recommended that the Statistics Act needs to be amended as it covers only a part of the whole industrial sector, leaving out many survey programmes in the Government set-up wherein information is being collected presently on purely voluntary basis from households, enterprises, companies, public and private institutions, etc. It recommended that necessary legal provisions should be made either by expanding the scope of the Statistics Act or by passing a new Act.4. In view of above, it is proposed to introduce the Collection of Statistics Bill, 2007 which is basically intended to enhance the scope of collection of statistics and to repeal the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953.5. Some of the salient features of the Bill are as follows:-(i) the scope has been enhanced to collect all kinds of statistics not only from industrial/ commercial concerns but also from individuals and households; and the local governments such as Panchayats and Municipalities are also empowered to collect statistics under the Bill;(ii) under this Bill, any Government Department/Organisation, either in the States or at the Centre or in the local government, may appoint a statistics officer for each subject of data collection and, or for each geographical unit;(iii) necessary provisions have also been made in the Bill for ensuring support to any statistics officer appointed by the appropriate Government, in terms of providing necessary inputs, manpower, etc.;(iv) the Central Government is empowered to make rules for avoiding duplication and for maintaining technical standards in data collection in respect of "core statistics", which are important for the country for the purpose of ensuring methodological standards, timeliness, credibility and completeness;(v) all methods of data collection including oral interviews and filing of returns in electronic form have also been covered;(vi) elaborate provisions have been made to ensure that the information collected under the Bill, shall not be used for any purpose other than for statistical purposes; and(vii) the penalties for offences, such as refusal to furnish information, have been rationalised and the offences have been proposed to be tried in a summary way to avoid prolonged litigation.6. The Bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objectives.[Dated 7th January, 2009]An Act to facilitate the collection of statistics on economic, demographic, social, scientific and environmental aspects, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
