Faulty statistics painting false picture of NE

Headlines Vol. 3 Issue No. 25

April 16 -30, 2007

Faulty statistics painting false picture of NE

Statistics has become a weak area in all State government departments of the North-East where the planning process is based on data provided by untrained personnel, Planning Adviser of the North Eastern Council (NEC) P. S. Thangkhiew said.
“Statistics can become a tool to project a false scenario... It has become one weak area in all state governments in the North-East,” Thangkhiew said recently after inaugurating a workshop on, ‘Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithm’. He said the planning process of the region was based on statistics provided by personnel not trained in the discipline at the base level.

Citing an example, the Planning Adviser said fish production figure of Meghalaya was being shown as 5,500 tonnes in the past 25 years without any change of even one kg during the period.

Similarly, as compensation for crops to farmers collected from their fields was abysmally low, the cultivators offered crops to the statiticians from the ‘least productive areas’ for taking samples – thus giving a wrong picture, the expert said.
The three-day workshop was being organised by the Statistics and Computer Science departments of St Anthony’s College here and aimed at promoting and popularising mathematical science, bridging its gap with other sciences, bringing scientists, researchers and statisticians together, Prof A B Chakraborty, who is the department head, said.

Meghalaya | North East Enquirer (Headlines) | Nena Home Page |

Your Visit No

Since April 20, 2000