Prof Chandrasekhar Quits Statistics Committee Over JNU Violence

Just a day after violence broke out in JNU, professor C P Chandrasekhar has resigned from the statistics panel.

Just a day after massive violence broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a professor of the institute, C P Chandrasekhar, has stepped down from a 28-member government-appointed panel.

Professor CP Chandrasekhar was a member of the panel of statisticians and economists headed by India’s former chief statistician Pranab Sen.

“I was persuaded that this government is not concerned about the robustness of India’s statistical system. The JNU incident on Sunday has further undermined the faith in the system. It shows that we are now living in a different world and it’s hard to work with a government in which you have lost faith.”

C P Chandrasekhar to Business Standard

He submitted his resignation via e-mail at around 9 pm on Monday. The committee, that was to review India’s economic data, was set to hold its first meeting on Tuesday.

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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation set up the Standing Committee on Economic Statistics to review data sources and indicators of economic data-sets. The government-appointed panel was created after many raised concerns that there was a lot of political interference in the statistical system, in terms of the job market and consumer spending, said the media report.

“I regret to inform you that, because of the situation in the JNU where I stay, I will be unable to attend tomorrow’s meeting. Further, I feel that, under current conditions, this committee is unlikely to be able to restore the credibility of the statistical system, which has been undermined in the recent past.”

Chandrasekhar in his e-mail, reported by Business Standard.

He also wrote that he doesn’t want to serve on this committee because political pressures have reduced the autonomy that the statisticians have.

On Sunday, 5 January, students and faculty members at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University were attacked by masked assailants, alleged to be members of the ABVP. Activists and students across India led protests in solidarity with the students of JNU.

Chandrasekhar called the incident "disturbing" and "unprecedented".

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(WIth inputs from Business Standard)