Ethics
In News: June 29, is national ‘Statistics Day’, in ‘recognition of the contributions made by Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the ‘Plan Man’ of India.
- Every year, the Statistics Day is celebrated on 29th June, the birth anniversary of Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, to recognise his invaluable contribution in establishing the National Statistical System.
- The theme of Statistics Day, 2022 is ‘Data for Sustainable Development’.
- On this occasion, MoSPI declare the winners of P C Mahalanobis National Award and Prof. P. V. Sukhatme Award 2020 will be declared during the event.
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893-1972)
- He is considered the father of modern statistics in India, founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and shaped the Planning Commission of India.
- He also devised a statistical method called ‘Fractile Graphical Analysis’, used to compare socio-economic conditions of varied groups.
Contributions
- Mahalanobis Distance: In 1930 he proposed the Mahalanobis Distance for the first time, which is a measure of comparison between two data sets.
- Indian Statistical Institute: In 1932 he founded ISI in Kolkata.
- Journal: In 1933 he started ‘Sankhya: The Indian Journal of Statistics’.
- He established National Sample Survey and set up the Central Statistical Organisation to coordinate statistical activities in 1950
- In 1955 he became the member of Planning Commission
- He was instrumental in formulating India’s second five-year-plan (1956-1961), which laid the blueprint for industrialisation and development in India.
Source: The Hindu
