Centre appoints Chairperson and Members of the National Statistical Commission

📌 Summary:

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the Chairperson and Members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC)
• Appointees: Dr. Saibal Chattopadhyay (Chairperson, former Director IIM Calcutta); Prof. Shubhabrata Das, Shri Satyendra Bahadur Singh and Dr. Madhavan Mukund (Members)
• NSC was set up in 2005 as the nodal body for the country's core statistical activities — to evolve, monitor and enforce statistical priorities and standards and ensure statistical coordination
• Composition: a part-time Chairperson, four part-time Members with specialisation in statistics, and the CEO, NITI Aayog as ex-officio Member; Secretary, MoSPI is Secretary to the NSC
• Functions: national statistical policies and priorities, standards/definitions/classifications, quality standards on core statistics, coordination with States/UTs and Central agencies, and statistical audit to ensure quality and integrity

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Polity — non-statutory bodies, official statistics governance, data quality and institutional integrity

📝 Prelims Facts:

• NSC set up in 2005; nodal body for core statistics
• Composition: part-time Chairperson + 4 part-time Members + CEO NITI Aayog (ex-officio); Secretary MoSPI is Secretary
• Appointments approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)

🔑 Key Term: National Statistical Commission (NSC) — an executive (non-statutory) body set up in 2005 to oversee and coordinate India's official statistical system