ISI Bill referred to parliamentary panel

NEW DELHI, Sep 2:

The Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, which seeks to widen the remit of the institute and update its legal framework, was on Tuesday referred to a parliamentary standing committee for detailed examination.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla referred the Bill to the Department-Related Standing Committee on Finance, which has been asked to submit its report within three months, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin.

The move came amid protests by faculty members of the Indian Statistical Institute and demands from opposition parties that the proposed legislation be examined by a standing committee.

Introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 2 during the Monsoon session, the Bill seeks to incorporate the Indian Statistical Institute as a ‘body corporate’.

The proposed legislation aims to strengthen the institute’s governance, promote academic excellence and research, and enable it to respond to emerging requirements in statistics and allied fields.