Kolkata: 'Simputers', simple computers designed for suburban and rural use, are likely to make a mass debut soon with the Ministry for Statistics and Programme Implementation planning to equip field workers with them to speed up data compilation from household surveys.

Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Oscar Fernandes said today (Oct 18, 2004) that with the use of simputers, statistical data compiled from Government surveys would now be available in the public domain faster than usual.

The huge volume of data generated from household surveys took an enormous amount of time to be processed and compiled.

"However, we are planning to introduce simputers so that survey workers can feed and process data on the field immediately after gathering it," Fernandes told reporters after inaugurating a workshop on 'sample design for household enterprise surveys' at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).

Though the logistics of the scheme were yet to be finalised, the minister said simputer forms for household surveys were being designed.

After the scheme is operational, statistical indices like national product, consumption expenditure, capital formation, savings and State domestic products would become easier and faster to compile.

Citing an example of the delay in compilation of data, he said all reports of the 2001 household survey had not yet reached him since they involved manual tabulation.