Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has blamed Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for not being able to provide the government with the up-to-date data.
“It is not possible for us to take an effective plan without adequate data in due time,” said the minister while addressing a seminar on the occasion of World Statistics Day 2015 in the city yesterday.
BBS, Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) and Bangladesh Statistical Association (BSA) jointly organised the seminar at BBS Auditorium. State Minister for Finance MA Mannan attended the seminar as special guest.
Speaking as chief guest, Mustafa Kamal said, “We could not offer any fruitful policy just because of having no up-to- date data in hand.”
The minister feared that all the planning would go in vain if the available data weren’t correct.
“If BBS provide me correct and accurate data I can assure you to deliver an effective policy”, he said.
The minister asked the BBS authorities to take necessary measures for providing quality data on time.
In reply, Secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) Kaniz Fatema stated that her division was working hard with BBS for providing quality data as early as possible.
“We are trying our level best to publish census or survey reports in a short span of time. And again, we are also careful about collecting quality data,” she added.
FAO Bangladesh Representative Mike Robson said meaningful statistics worked as a storyteller. “We can tackle all the odd situation using quality data.”
UNFPA Bangladesh Representative Argentina Matavel stressed on continuity and availability of data as she said, “It is not possible to measure a country’s overall activities without getting regular data.”
