Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Statistics and lies

Sir, — Dr. Subramanian Swamy concludes his article `An unsustainable model' ( June 7 ) saying that "figures can never lie" which is indeed an oxymoron and reminds me of the two adages widely known. There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. Statistics are like alienists — they will testify for either side.

He says Kerala has the highest number of State public sector undertakings (111 which is 10.5 per cent of the 1,082 in the nation) and that India has one State-level PSU per 9.6 lakh people and that Kerala has one per 3.2 lakhs, i.e. three times. This is baffling, if not incredible. The State public sector undertakings in Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu bear no comparison, judged by criteria such as investment quantum, production capacity, product-mix, etc.

K. John Mammen,

Thiruvananthapuram

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