The Government of India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) officially released the latest version of India’s national socio-economic database – DevInfo India 3.0 – on 27 December 2011. The database has been adapted from the DevInfo database system endorsed by the United Nations for tracking progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and other national priorities.

This latest release builds on a steady history of DevInfo use in India, beginning with the launch of DevInfo India 1.0 in 2005 and followed by DevInfo India 2.0 in 2008. Over the past decade, the country has witnessed the development of various sector-specific databases as well, including
Polio Communication Info and Crime Info.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Shri Srikant Kumar Jena, Honorable Minister of State (Independent Charge), MOSPI, affirmed, “Having collected the data, the Government is also duty bound to release the data in an informative mode, for use by policy makers and planners, national and international organizations, research organizations, think tanks, and the public. Today's release is yet another example of our Ministry's commitment to provide useful data to all for informed decision-making.”

Developed by the Central Statistical Office with strong support from UNICEF India, DevInfo India 3.0 contains rich time-series data across a wide swath of more than 500 socio-economic indicators, disaggregated by geographic sub-levels across India. The database supports excellent data dissemination via the facility to prepare tables, charts and maps from the data.

This latest database includes data sourced from the District Level Household and Facility Survey-3, the revised National Family Health Survey-3, the latest National Sample Survey reports, and key results of Census 2011.

The Government of India has released DevInfo India 3.0 through a four-pronged approach. The State Profiles application is adapted from a new web-based DevInfo tool allowing users to view downloadable socio-economic profiles for any Indian state. Users can also select and view a wide range of indicators, generating dynamic displays on the interactive map.

Besides this, the Interactive Gallery allows visitors to browse through existing maps and graphs developed for ten key socio-economic sectors. DevInfo India Online provides instant online access to the underlying datasets, while the DevInfo India Desktop application can be downloaded onto individual computers for desktop use.

For more information, please contact Mr. S. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director General, Central Statistics Office, at chakra_satya@yahoo.com or Mr. Dhrijesh Tiwari, Director, Social Statistics Division, MOSPI, at dhrijesh@hotmail.com.