Harnesssing innovation to drive meaningful change

Enabling sustainable livelihoods for 
a resilient rural India

Harnesssing innovation to drive meaningful change

Who Are We

The Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI), established in 2014, is an innovation and research centre at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR).

Over the years, CDFI has developed, supported, and scaled
award-winning innovative digital solutions that are driving large-scale projects at the national and state level. CDFI has partnered with various Central Ministries/Departments such as MoRD, MeitY, MoWCD, DBT Mission, Government of Meghalaya, and international institutions such as the WHO.
CDFI is now focusing its expertise and resources on one of the developing world’s most pressing challenges: securing sustainable, reliable livelihoods for rural households. As markets and technologies are rapidly evolving, new opportunities have opened up to develop innovative models for enterprise development, market access, and financial inclusion that empower rural economies.

Mission Sustainable Livelihoods 2030


Enable at least one million rural households to secure sustainable livelihoods, ensuring a dependable standard of living.
"Previously monitoring the health of expectant mothers was difficult due to the non-availability of timely data, and the data we had was inconsistent since it was collected in papers or in registers.”
- Ramkumar S. Add. Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Dept. Meghalaya
“The name for the app signifies the centrality of mothers in achieving development goals in Health, nutrition and education."
- CM Conrad K. Sangma

                         Our Impact

Building resilient livelihoods across states and sectors.
MEGHALAYA
₹76.37Cr
paid to 7.46K ASHA’s on time.
3000+
Administrative staff & Mid-Level Health Providers benefitted from end-to-end DBT Payments Portal
3,69,000+
pregnant women registered on Mother app.
uttar
pradesh
34,354
Small & Marginal Farmers have embedded digital payments into agri-business operations across 40 FPOs.
Tamil nadu
₹34.8M
in financial assistance helped women avail timely nutritional care.
102 M+
female SHG Members across 9+ million SHGs empowered, getting financial access for livelihood enhancement.
ACROSS INDIA
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34,354
Small & Marginal Farmers have embedded digital payments into agri-business operations across 40 FPOs.
₹76.37Cr
paid to 7.46K ASHA’s on time.
3000+
Administrative staff & Mid-Level Health Providers benefitted from end-to-end DBT Payments Portal
3,69,000+
pregnant women registered on Mother app.
102 M+
female SHG Members across 9+ million SHGs empowered, getting financial access for livelihood enhancement.
₹34.8M
in financial assistance helped women avail timely nutritional care.
ACROSS INDIA

Awards and Recognitions

We embed digital solutions into public systems to empower lives and communities from the ground up

COVID Tracking System

Increased the survival rate in rural areas by 32%

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COVID Tracking System
COVID Tracking System

More than 96,000 deliveries recorded in the system

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COVID Tracking System
COVID Tracking System

Increased the survival rate in rural areas by 32%

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Featured Work

From research to field, strengthening livelihoods for rural communities across India.
Sustainable Livelihood
PACS Growth Framework

Examined 220+ Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across 5 states, to map the pulse of rural credit, from the ground up.

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Sustainable Livelihood
MLAMP

Expanding sustainable livelihood opportunities for rural communities across 1,350 villages in all 11 districts of Meghalaya

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Sustainable Livelihood
MegLIFE

Keeping Meghalaya's forests and livelihoods connected across 500 villages and 38,000+ households.

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Sustainable Livelihood
NRLM

Strengthening the financial foundations of 9.4 million+ Self-Help Group members across India, through LokOS core-banking platform built for the SHG ecosystem

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Focus Areas

Building Livelihoods from the Ground Up

Financial Inclusion

Connecting households to formal credit and digital paymentsystems that expand access to finance and support sustainable livelihoods.
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Efficient Service Delivery

Delivering government programs at scale demands precision, coordination, and real-time visibility across villages and millions of beneficiaries.
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Sustainable Livelihoods

Building real-time data systems that help state governmentstrack, manage, and deliver large-scale rural development programs.
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Our Partners

Stories of change

“The MOTHER App recently helped save the life of a high-risk pregnant woman who had refused institutional delivery.”
— Dr. Tyngshain Sutnga, Medical Officer, Bhoirymbong CHC
“The MOTHER App has made it easier to track and follow up with high-risk pregnant mothers and deliveries through phone calls, and even conduct preparatory counselling for the next visit.”
- Maria Wahlang, ASHA worker, West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya
"The old system for ASHAs was tedious, time consuming and has too many processes which resulted in delay of payments"
— Mission Director, NHM, Ramkumar S.
“The MOTHER App has made it easier to track and follow up with high-risk pregnant mothers and deliveries through phone calls, and even conduct preparatory counselling for the next visit.”
- Maria Wahlang, ASHA worker, West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya

Insights & stories