New Delhi, July 3 (IANS): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday released the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) and said that it would be an important input for policy makers.

"The progress which households in India have made, who are the ones who have qualitatively moved up in terms of quality of life, a document of these will be an important input for all policy makers, both at the Centre and in the states," Jaitley said while releasing the SECC here.

"I am sure that with the enormity of the schemes and their reaches that all governments have, this document will form the basis of helping us to target groups to support in terms of policy planning," the finance minister added.

The data addresses the multi-dimensionality of poverty and provides a unique opportunity for a convergent, evidence based planning with a Gram Panchayat as a unit, a finance ministry statement said.

The data is an opportunity to make evidence-based selection, prioritisation and targeting of beneficiaries in different programmes, the statement noted.

According to the statement, a total of 1.24 crore claims and objections were received of which 99.7 percent have already been resolved.

"The Ministry of Rural Development has taken a decision to use the SECC data in all its programmes. SECC data would have meaningful use in Housing for all, Education and Skills thrust, MGNREGA, National Food Security Act, interventions for differently able, interventions for women led households, and targeting of households/individual entitlements on evidence of deprivation," a government release said.