Freely downloadable public use data files are now available for the India Human Development Survey 2005 (IHDS), a nationally representative, multi-topic survey of 41,554 households in 1503 villages and 971 urban neighborhoods across India. Two one-hour interviews in each household covered health, education, employment, economic status, marriage, fertility, gender relations, and social capital. Children aged 8-11 completed short reading, writing and arithmetic tests. Additional village, school, and medical facility data will be available later.
India Human Development Data 2005 can be downloaded after registration from here .