Data-driven planning key to industrial growth: Minister

Patna: State planning and development minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav on Tuesday called upon govt officials to capitalise on the state’s current momentum to trigger a large-scale industrial transformation.

He was speaking at a high-level training workshop organised for state govt officials.The one-day workshop, titled “Interactive report-writing for planning & policy”, was organised by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) and focused on strengthening policy formulation through evidence-based documentation and analysis.Addressing the gathering, Yadav said, “Evidence-based, data-driven inputs have become the cornerstone of multi-dimensional progress in the modern world.”

He stressed the need for a forward-looking development strategy that integrates advanced data analytics with Bihar’s inherent strengths, particularly its abundant water resources.“The state must cash in on the promising winds of change, and the planning and development department should be the primary driver for this integrated vision of sustainable growth,” he said, urging officials to adopt a more analytical and outcome-oriented approach in policy planning.

Additional chief secretary of the planning and development department N Vijaya Lakshmi highlighted the lack of clarity surrounding Bihar’s performance on the sustainable development goals, despite the department being the nodal agency for monitoring these targets. She said effective policy-making depended heavily on high-quality report writing, where data from multiple departments is carefully compiled, validated and analysed to guide informed govt action.The workshop saw the participation of 45 officials and featured five interactive sessions conducted by ADRI member-secretary Ashmita Gupta and other faculty members. The sessions focused on key contemporary administrative skills, including methodologies for different types of reports, advanced data collection and analytical tools, GIS mapping, development of digital platforms, and ethical data management practices.The programme concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Deepak Kumar, bringing to a close a training session aimed at equipping Bihar’s bureaucracy with the tools required for data-led planning and sustainable economic growth.