Statistics Day

In recognition of the notable contributions made by Professor (late) Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics and economic planning, Government of India has designated 29^th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary, as “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Days to be celebrated at the national level. The objective of this Day is to create public awareness, specially in the younger generation for drawing inspiration from Professor (late) Mahalanobis about the role and importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.

Indian scientist and statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis served on the first Planning Commission of free India. He is also famous for formulating a big sample survey and figuring out the Mahalanobis distance. Mahalanobis established the Indian Institute of Statistics and contributed to the field of anthropometry. His birthday, June 29, is observed as National Statistics Day in India. He has won various honours for his work in statistics, including the OBE, FNA, FASc, and FRS.