Statistics have had an intimate relation with the formation of modern states and indeed with the very ways in which modern states are popularly imagined. At present, in most countries, the principle of one person one vote, which necessitates collection of demographic statistics, forms the bedrock of the relation between the state and statistics. But, even otherwise, the planning and evaluation of a variety of state interventions related to economy, federal redistribution, affirmative action, employment, migration, health, education, and law and order demand recourse to statistics.  Problems notwithstanding, policy-makers and researchers in social sciences increasingly rely on statistics collected by governments and, more recently, also on statistics collected by large non/inter-governmental organisations and there is a growing circulation of statistics among the general public.

In light of the above, the mutually constitutive relationship between politics and statistics merits closer scrutiny. The course introduces students to the structure and diversity of sources of statistics in India and helps understand how policy design and information (statistics) are endogenously determined along with social, political, and economic outcomes. It uncovers the channels through which politics and policymaking interfere with various stages of production, dissemination and consumption of government statistics. It facilitates reflection on the consequences of the deepening relationship between statistics, on the one hand, and politics and public policy, on the other.