Recipient Institution:
Ekgaon technologies Pvt. Ltd., India

Project Leader:
Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya, CEO

Amount and Duration: US$ 30,000 / 24 months

Commencement Date:
January 2005

Abstract of Project
The MISSION project is a secure, extensible and easy-to-use MIS system for SHGs, SHG Federations and other community-based financial institutions. These institutions have proven to be effective empowering agents for local communities towards the goal of sustainable livelihood-based rural development. Focusing on supporting economic growth through appropriate use of natural resources, these institutions can serve as a model for the rest of the world in how to live within one's means and develop gracefully.

However, the lack of management capacity is one of the main limitations for the continued growth of these institutions. Being owned and managed by the local people themselves, they have little access to formal tools or training. We believe that the development of a secure, cost-effective Management Information System (MIS) would be a significant step forward in ensuring the continued financial performance, sustainability and growth of these institutions.

Recognizing that such institutions come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have infinitely varying requirements, we are developing a modular tool-based framework for MIS systems serving these communities. This framework consists of the following main components:

• Accessible mobile-phone based system for remote information capture
• Standardized formats for data collection and recording
• Trusted back-office solutions for information update and storage
• Tools for generating reports and data visualization

These components can be used together, or can be used separately, serving the needs of small local institutions that only need a basic manual records system, all the way to large multi-state networks with far flung branches. We can also see how this framework can be used to provide other information services within the community.

We intend to publish our tools and results widely for adoption by other institutions. We hope to encourage a broad drive towards better information tools for community-owned development institutions.