{
  "id": 8157125,
  "title": "After TISS and IRMA, the govt comes for India’s top statistics institute",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/after-tiss-and-irma-the-govt-comes-for-indias-top-statistics-institute",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-18T02:30:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Ken",
    "slug": "the-ken",
    "url": "https://the-ken.com/story/after-tiss-and-irma-the-govt-comes-for-indias-top-statistics-institute/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Partha Majumder, a long-serving professor at India's Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, recently attended a meeting of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (Mospi) to discuss the future of the country's top statistical institute. Majumder was unable to attend the meeting in person and requested the agenda and minutes, but received no response from the ministry. This lack of transparency has sparked a petition signed by 637 academics, including former National Statistical Commission members, ISI directors, and historians, urging the government to consult the institute before passing a new ISI Bill. The institute is also building a desktop-based software tool for GDP calculations, but the methodology has been questioned by former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and former statistician Pronab Sen, who both expressed concerns about the accuracy of the new GDP series.",
  "summary": "The post After TISS and IRMA, the govt comes for India’s top statistics institute appeared first on The Ken .",
  "key_points": [
    "Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation held meeting on ISI's future.",
    "637 academics signed petition for consultation before ISI Bill.",
    "ISI developing software tool for GDP calculations, questioned by experts."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}