The Indian Council of Social Science Research organized a seminar on the 'Current Status of Socio-Economic Data' at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, during June 30 to July 1, 1997. This volume brings together the papers that were presented, after they were revised based on comments from discussants. They seek to: (i)document as comprehensively a possible the sources and availability of information on different sectors and socio-economic variables; (ii)assess the quality and reliability of the data as well as their comparability across data-sets and over time; (iii)report on the form in which data are available and the ease with which they can be out into computer-readable formats.