On National Statistics Day, Odisha CM Pays Humble Tributes to Prof. P C Mahalanobis

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today paid his humble tributes to Prof. P C Mahalanobis on his birth anniversary, celebrated as National Statistics Day for his outstanding contribution in establishing the National Statistical System.

“Humble tributes to Prof. P C Mahalanobis on his birth anniversary, celebrated as #NationalStatisticsDay for his outstanding contribution in establishing the National Statistical System. Reiterate commitment to use transparent and trustworthy data for better planning & governance”, the CM tweeted.


National Statistics Day is celebrated on June 29 on the birth anniversary of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. Often referred to as the ‘father of Indian statistics’, Mahalanobis, was born on June 29, 1893, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal.

Mahalanobis is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure and for being one of the members of the first Planning Commission of India. The formula is used to find the distance between a point and a distribution, based on measurements in multiple dimensions. It is widely used in the field of cluster analysis and classification.

He founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and contributed to the design of large-scale sample surveys. For his contributions, Mahalanobis has been considered the father of modern statistics in India.

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