MSPO, ASOs told to be adept at data handling

Jubilee Hills: Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana rolled out a three-week duration induction training programme for 218 Mandal Planning & Statistical Officers (MPSOs) and Assistants Statistical Officers (ASOs) of the Department of Economics and Statistics.

B Vinod Kumar, Vice Chairman of the Telangana State Planning Board, launching the training on Friday said that Telangana State was a frontrunner in the proactive use of data aimed at understanding problems in a scientific way and in formulating innovative schemes for their enduring solutions.

He cited the examples of such schemes as Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima, which are based on collection of ground level data and its analysis. "These schemes captured the imagination of other States from across the country," he stated and added that the secret behind the success of Telangana agitation was the extensive use of data in highlighting the deprivation of Telangana region on multiple counts.

Vinod Kumar further said that availability of data from the grassroots level would be of great help in undertaking planning for continuing the development trajectory of the State with a focus on mandals and villages. He advised the MPSOs and the ASOs to keep learning, especially the emerging information and communication technologies, in order to keep their skill sets current and up-to-date.

Dr G R Reddy, Advisor to Government (Finance), said that Telangana is the only State in the country which has achieved commanding heights during the last five years, both in terms of economic development and social welfare. "The credit for this worth-emulating achievement goes to the robust infrastructure in the State for the collection of data and its analysis with a professional touch," he added.

B P Acharya, DG of the Institute, said, "The focus of this exercise should be people and their multifaceted development." He added that the Telangana State undertook a first-of-its-kind 'Samagra Kutumba Survey,' which covered a whopping one crore households and collected data across 95 parameters.

A number of innovative schemes were formulated for the amelioration of the lot of beedi workers and shepherds. Telangana State also pioneered collection of village-centric data as part of the scheme, 'Mana Vooru; Mana Pranalika,' and was using geo-spatial data for asset mapping across villages, he noted.

Sri K Ramakrishna Rao, Principal Secretary, Finance said, with a sense of pride, that the size of the economy of Telangana State, which was 4.5 lakh crores in 2014, has jumped to a staggering 8.6 lakh crores in 2018-'19. "The credit for this achievement goes to data-based planning and decision making", he stated.

He advised the MPSOs and ASOs to be truthful in collection and analysis of data, considering the allegations against the agencies involved in the similar work at the national level. He added that the data, which is deficient in terms of its fairness, will result in wrong diagnosis of problems and formulation of faulty schemes. He, therefore, advised the MPSOs and ASOs to maintain high standards of fairness in their working.

Sri A Sudarshan Reddy, Director Economics & Statistics welcomed the gathering and presented an overview of the program. On this occasion, Sri B Vinod Kumar released a Manual of Department of Economics & Statistics and also a documentary on "A Day in the Life of a Toddy Tapper" made by T-SAT through national award winning director, Sri Gnana Rajashekharan, IAS (Retd).

He also inaugurated Sardar Patel Conference Hall in the presence of Sri A K Goel, Dr G R Reddy, Sri B P Acharya, IAS, Sri Harpreet Singh, IAS, Sri K Ramakrishna Rao, IAS, Sri B Vennkateswara Rao, IAS, and others.