|
Bureau was primarily advisory in character, e.g., giving technical advice regarding the collection of primary statistics, the classification, tabulation, analysis of statistical data and publishing of the same etc. The Bureau was thus entrusted with the job of reviewing the statistics collected by various Departments and examining the best means of collecting additional information as Departments consider to be useful for their proper functioning.
Since then the name of the Bureau had been changed twice: first, from Provincial Statistical Bureau (PSB) to State Statistical Bureau (SSB) since 13 th November 1950 and then to Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics (B.A.E. & S.) with effect from 1 st January, 1969. Initially, the Bureau had almost no regular staff and a few experienced Computors and Technicians were taken on deputation from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), who started work under the guidance of Professor P.C.Mahalanobis, Honorary Statistical Advisor, Government of West Bengal.In 1945, the Government of Bengal, at the request of Government of India, decided to undertake the Annual Census of Manufacturing Industries in Bengal by administering the Industrial Statistics Act, 1942. This was the first data-collection work entrusted to the PSB. In 1948, the State Government decided that the crop survey work of the State, which was no longer being carried out by the Indian Statistical Institute, should be conducted under the direct control of the Government. In pursuance of this decision the Bureau took over the crop survey in West Bengal from the ISI in 1950-51. During the second Five year Plan (1956-57) a small unit of staff was sanctioned under the plan to undertake the job of estimation of State Income. The State Income Unit of Bureau was set up at the end of 1959.In the mean time each District Statistical Office was with collecting and maintaining statistical data at District and lower levels for preparing the District Statistical Handbooks. In 1960, the Bureau set up Nucleus Unit with trained personnel. The National Sample Survey (NSS) was established in 1950 by the Government of India as a continuing all-India project for the collection of socio-economic data for the whole country. With a view to providing dependable estimates at the State level, the Government of India requested the State Governments to participate in the National Survey Programme. Till 1973, West Bengal continued to remain a non-participating State. In 1974, the State Government decided to revise its earlier stand and to participate in collaboration programme of NSS on equal matching basis. A socio- economic Survey Office was accordingly set up in the Bureau in September, 1974. The Bureau started participating in the NSS programme from the 29 th round (1974-75) of survey. The Bureau also started conducting All-India Economic Census and Survey programme in West Bengal at every seven years interval from 1977 and 1978 onwards. During the Fifth Five Year Plan a regular “Training Unit” was set up in 1975 to organise short courses of training for the non-gazetted statistical personnel of the State Government Departments.
|