A small department of statistics was founded in the India House in 1847. In 1848, the first census relating to the area and revenue of each in North-West Provinces was released. In 1853, the department released the first series of statistical papers on India.
Impressed by the trend in statistical activities, the Secretary of State ordered the Governor-General in Council to prepare a “comprehensive and coordinated scheme of statistical survey” for each of the twelve great provinces of the then British India and Dr. W.W. Hunter was appointed as Director-General of Statistics in India in 1869, who can perhaps be regarded as the original precursor to the Chief Statistician of India today.