The director of the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) has been suspended by the Central government for alleged discrepancies in recruitment process.
According to a report by The Wire, KS James had been asked to step down as the government was not happy with the data that came out in the recent survey conducted by the IIPS. However, James refused to step down.
The letter of suspension was sent to James on the evening of July 28, sources told The Wire.
The IIPS, which comes under the Union health ministry, conducts the National Family Health (NFH) surveys.
James was appointed the director of the Mumbai-based institute in 2018. He has a postdoctoral degree from Harvard Centre for Population and Development.
Before joining IIPS, he was professor of population studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Last NHFS-5 displayed irregularities
In the 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey (NGHS-5), many claims made by the Centre were debunked. For example, the Union government had announced that India was open defecation free. A claim was later contradicted by the survey that pointed out that 19% of Indian households still defecate in the open due to lack of toilets.
The NFHS, in its survey, had named Union Territory Lakdshasweep as the only area to be 100% open defecate free.
The survey mentioned that 40% of the households did not have access to clean cooking fuel. It raised questions about the success of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana which provides financial assistance in buying LPG cylinders to households that are Below Poverty Line (BPL).
According to the survey, 59% of Indian households below the poverty line did not have cooking or natural gas connections, thus discrediting another claim by the Narendra Modi-led central government.
On July 7, Prime Minister’s economic advisory council Shamika Ravi wrote an op-ed in the Indian Express pinpointing many government surveys as faulty.
Govt not serious: Congress
Congress party hit out at the Union government stating they were not serious about conducting a caste-based census, which should have been conducted in 2021.
In a tweet, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that data was ‘being peddled’ if it did not ‘fit the narrative set by the Modi government’.
“One deny access to data, two, dispute the methodology into question. Three, discard the data. Four, discontinue its publication and five, defame those in charge of collating and putting it out,” Jairam Ramesh, who is party’s General Secretary Communication Incharge said in a tweet.
