The “ICSSR Data Service” is culmination of signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The MoU provides for setting-up of “ICSSR Data Service: Social Science Data Repository” and host NSS and ASI datasets generated by MoSPI. Under the initiative, social science research institutes, NGOs, individuals and others dealing with social science research are also being approached to deposit / provide their research datasets for hosting into the repository of ICSSR Data Service. The ICSSR Data Service includes social science and statistical datasets of various national-level surveys on debt & investment, domestic tourism, enterprise survey, employment and unemployment, housing condition, household consumer expenditure, health care, etc., into its repository.
ICSSR Data Service aims to facilitate data sharing, preservation, accessibility and reuse of social science research data collected from entire social science community in India & abroad. The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, Gandhinagar has been assigned the task of setting-up the data repository.