Mission:  IRDF is committed to enhancing the lives of the underprivileged in rural India primarily through education

IRDF partnering with other nonprofit organizations would like to achieve the following goals in rural India:

- access to primary and vocational education;
- reduce population growth rate;
- reduce infant mortality, and improve health and hygiene;
- promote sustainable economic development.

The Fund has two types of project models.

Fixed Duration Projects: The Fund ties up with a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India and supports projects that are typically up to a year duration. Examples of such projects are health camps, family planning camps, link roads, and other infrastructure projects.

Permanent Institution Projects: In these projects the Fund helps NGOs that are interested in establishing new rural schools, adult education centers including vocational training, and health centers. The Fund not only finances these projects, but also tries to identify property donors in India.

After Independence, economic development in India (especially in rural areas) has lagged behind other Asian countries. Some of the statistics that clearly demonstrate this proposition are shown below. It is important to note the level of development in Asian countries which had economic indicators comparable to India's in 1947.

Today most of them are far ahead of India. As shown in the table below, literacy in India is still quite low, especially for woman; the standard of living, and quality of life has improved for the average Indian, but still many people (40%) are below the poverty line; life expectancy has improved a lot but is still low; infant mortality rate is still quite high; the population growth rate is unsustainable and it is significantly degrading the environment and ecology.

Economic Data (Source: World Bank - 2006)