Rural Innovation Fund: Awardees

Over 400 proposals were received in response to the Rural Innovation Fund,a Fund created for Mission 2007 by Microsoft and telecentre.org.The aim of the Fund is to support those working towards developing innovative applications/solutions/ content/services in areas related to Mission 2007 needs.

1. Primary Eye Care Through Rural Vision Centre
Proposal for 'Primary Eye Care through Rural Vision Centre' submitted by LAICO, Aravind Eye Care System, Theni, Tamilnadu. The project objective is to develop an appropriate model to increase the uptake of eye care services at Vision Centres, and to develop a software based monitoring and analysis tool that will enable assessment of the impact of Vision Centres in eliminating avoidable blindness in the community.

2. School Management Software
Proposal to develop a 'School Management software' submitted by 'Janastu', Bangalore aimed at teachers and staff of a school. The software would be customizable to the schools' needs, and will enable better educational administration, as well as become a basis for creating a community of teachers to discuss various issues.

3. e-Com Web Portal To Facilitate Flow Of Funds Up To Village Level
Proposal to develop an 'e-Com web portal to facilitate flow of funds up to village level', submitted by Aruntec. The portal will help the villagers to solicit information from the internet as well as facilitate selecting/buying goods or availing services; and create e-identification of villagers and their activities.

4. Participatory Community Raining And e-Commerce Adaptation
Proposal to develop a 'Participatory Community Raining and e-Commerce adaptation utility for Fisher-folks' submitted by SPRIT (Society for Participatory Research and Integrated training).The project would introduce the basics of e-Commerce concept including e-Auction,supply chain management, cold storage facilities etc. to the fishing communities in Manamelkudi of Pudukottai district as a pilot project.

5. Village Centric Disaster Management System
Proposal to develop a 'Village Centric Disaster Management System: SOS-ICS' submitted by Vritti Solutions Ltd.,Mumbai,leading to better response and relief measures in case of disasters.A Disaster Response Network (DRN) for collecting information about likely disaster threats,and resources like man,machine/equipment,support services and key persons,will be created at village level;and structured in such a way that it can be consolidated at Taluka,District,State or National level.The winning project are in areas of urgent needs awaiting appropriate solutions: Rural Health Care,Education,E-Commerce,Community Training and Disaster Management.

The Rural Innovation Fund Second and final List of Awardees
It has been very encouraging to have such overwhelming response to the idea of the Rural Innovation Fund. We received in all over 1000 proposals from all over India. We had announced the first set of Awardees at the 4th Convention of Mission 2007.The next and final set consists of 3 winners,listed below,

Preparation Of Knowledge Kit For Goat Keepers
Proposal by Professor of Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (RAGACOVAS) for preparing a Knowledge Kit for scientific way of goat rearing such as young kid management,feeding management, breeding management, common diseases of goats, etc. which will explain the important scientific practices to be adopted by the goat keepers.

BMDScan - Tool for Bone Mineral Density Scan
Proposal prepared by Faculty of Manipal Centre for Information Science to develop a tool ( BMDScan) which provides a cost effective method of evaluating the bone mineral density by the use of Image analysis applied on radiographs for better results. This cheaper and cost effective method could make one of the primary health care procedures accessible to the poor.

Integrated Rural Milk Procurement System
Integrated Rural Milk Procurement System ( IRMPS) proposal submitted by Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperative is an Internet based application wherein milk collection details are captured on to the server at headquarters straight from village using GPRS to ensure transparency and instant payment to the farmer through bank.