ABSTRACT
The history of government statistics in Northeast India mirrors the history of the expansion of the modern state. More than half a century after the nominal completion of the expansion, both the availability and quality of statistics – maps, censuses, sample surveys and administrative statistics – still decline with distance from the plains and change sharply across colonial-era borders. The ability to assess the quality of statistics is circumscribed by the paucity and declining quality of metadata. The data deficit of the region has to be understood from the perspective of the larger context of development and democracy deficits. However, academics, journalists and policy makers either uncritically use statistics on the region overlooking its data deficit or limit the analysis to ‘major’ states including only Assam from the region. Engagement with the data deficit of the region can offer fresh insights into centre–state relations, local political economy, ethnic and resource conflicts and the changing nature of identity and society that can, in turn, help clean up the existing data and design appropriate statistical reforms.
