A Bill seeking to widen the remit of the Indian Statistical Institute and align its legal framework with evolving needs was on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) referred to a parliamentary committee for threadbare examination.
The Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, was referred to the Department-Related Standing Committee on Finance by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The committee has been asked to submit its report “within three months”, a Lok Sabha bulletin said.
The board will be headed by the chairperson, who will be an eminent person from the field of academia, industry, education, public policy, and statistical sciences. It will be accountable to the Central government, the Bill notes. The 1959 Act, according to the Bill, has limited provisions in respect of the governance, administration, finance, accountability and functioning of the Institute and is not adequate to enable it to respond to the requirements of an evolving academic and research environment.
Therefore, it says, the government decided to repeal the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959, to bring out comprehensive legislation providing for the incorporation of the Indian Statistical Institute, an institution of national importance, to excel as a globally recognised centre in Statistical Sciences and allied fields.
The Bill says the President will be the Visitor of the institute and provisions for a Board of Governors that will be its principal policy executive body. The legal reform will enable an ecosystem to train a new generation of high-quality data scientists and statisticians, bridging the massive talent gap currently facing India’s tech and financial sectors, the Bill says.
