[This Note was submitted to the Cabinet Secretary by E-Mail on 30-10-2024] The goal placed before the Kovind Committee was to find ways and means to conduct simultaneous elections in the country to avoid holding frequent elections, to reduce massive expenditure in elections, to reduce deployment of security forces and other electoral officers for significantly … Continue reading Comments on the Report of Kovind Committee

[This Note was submitted to the Cabinet Secretary by E-Mail on 23-10-2024] Summary Census is internationally recognized as small area statistics. Reforms in conducting censuses will bring about overall improvement in the entire statistical system. The allocation of subjects under the Allocation of Business Rules permitted compartmentalization in conducting censuses on different subjects by different … Continue reading How to conduct Censuses efficiently in India

(This Note was submitted to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.) It was reported in a section of the media that the Government of Andhra Pradesh is contemplating to conduct Skill Census. Obviously, the Census will throw light on the ground situation in respect of skills available, not available and not likely to be … Continue reading Skill Development in Andhra Pradesh

[This Note was sent to Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.] 1.        With public debt already crossing the limits prescribed under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, it may not be desirable to continue with the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. To reduce the burden on the State Exchequer, it is suggested … Continue reading Some suggestions for the development of Andhra Pradesh

(This report, comprising five chapters and Bibliography, was submitted in February 2012 at IIM, Lucknow by my fellow ISS officers, S/ Shri Satyabrata Chakrabarti, Mukat Singh, Tapas Kumar Sanyal, and myself, as a requirement under Advanced Management Programme.) Acknowledgements:          We are deeply indebted to the IIM, Lucknow faculty, who during the course of their lectures … Continue reading Government Statistical System in India-Management Challenges and Opportunities

(This article was submitted for consideration of the High-Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Former President of India. Some of the ideas given in this article were of my Guruji, Late Shri Chiruvolu Durgaprasada Rao, who sent a note on ‘Election Reforms’ in the early seventies to the then Prime Minister, … Continue reading Suggestions on one nation, one election issue

(This was submitted to the Hon’ble Minister of Statistics & PI and the Chief Statistician of India on 26-04-2021) Subject:       Proposal of MOSPI dated 17-08-2020 to amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 in the context of decriminalisation of minor offences for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme … Continue reading Comments on the proposal of MOSPI dated 17-08-2020 to amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008

[This note was submitted to the Election Commission of India.] The National Statistical Commission under the chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan (2001) recommended [please see Reference (1)] for conferring statutory status to the Commission on the lines of what has been done in the United Kingdom (UK). In the UK, under the terms of their … Continue reading Protocols for statistical activities in the Government during elections

(This note was submitted to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India) Summary:    The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 has been underutilised due to weaknesses in its implementation and misconceptions about its applicability to private sector information. Assessing the effectiveness of the law, only based on number of RTI applications and percentage of applications responded … Continue reading Need to amend the RTI Act: Some suggestions

[This paper was sent for the consideration of the 22nd Law Commission] Abstract: Uniform Civil Code (UCC) deals with marriage, divorce, maintenance, inheritance, adoption, and succession of property, and in the process addresses discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonizes various cultural practices. UCC is a long-awaited dream for those who respect the rule of law. … Continue reading Suggestions on Uniform Civil Code