SAHIWAL: Commissioner Nadeemur Rehman inaugurated an event to share findings of the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) of Sahiwal division here at Zila Council Hall on Tuesday.

The seminar for dissemination of data was organised by the Punjab Bureau of Statistic in collaboration with Unicef, Pakistan.

The commissioner said the MICS is a global household survey which provides robust and credible evidence for planning and policy making, to track and improve overall sectoral indicators, particularly, those affecting children and women of Punjab.

He said MICS indicators also helped policymakers improve human index of society.

Sajid Rasool, Punjab Bureau of Statistics said the survey sample was 53,000 households in Punjab. The commissioner said MICS data would provide benchmark estimates which must and should be at the heart of divisional and district levels planning in the future. He said data would provide further picture where the financial resources should be allocated or where it should not.

He said the data also provided a comparison within nine divisions and 36 districts of Punjab to examine which were lacking and prioritiesed areas for allocation of development funds.

Mr Rasool said the MISC data was not directly linked or connected with “policymakers” but it was available for policymakers to be reviewed and analysed.

One of the participants suggested the findings of each divisional and district level indicators be shared with MPAs for budget allocations.

“Effective decentralization of governance cannot be done without properly knowing existing indicators of development. The question is how policymakers are linked with findings being envisaged by such reputable survey,” the commissioner said.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019