The Enterprises Project or MEC Project has as its primary objective of building local capabilities, and community based enterprise support system in the form of micro-enterprise consultants (MECs) for promotion and development of micro-enterprises of the poor.
The MECs in the project are local women and men who have been provided with high quality business management training and necessary handholding to set up their own consulting businesses promoting and supporting micro-enterprises.
MEC project aims to train local persons in business management skills and make their services available to the rural poor in setting up and running their enterprises.
The MECs in the project are local women and men who have been provided with high quality business management training and necessary handholding to set up their own consulting businesses promoting and supporting micro-enterprises.
MEC Project in Partner-States
Similar to the mentor resource persons of the PRI-CBO convergence project, KS-NRO has placed mentors in the pilot areas of the MEC project. These mentors are known as ‘mentor MECs’.
Mentor MECs work with MECs in the districts providing them with continuous training and handholding.
KS-NRO is engaged with seven States in implementing MEC project; in five of these States, MEC project is underway along with the PRI-CBO convergence project.
- Implementation of MEC project and PRI-CBO convergence
- Implementation of MEC project only
Five States: Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Sikkim
Two States: Bihar, Gujarat
The project is about providing end-to-end support to potential entrepreneurs from the poorer sections of the society. The MEC Project was drawn up with the following objectives.
- Creation of sustainable livelihoods for rural people through self-employment initiatives
- Provision of community level handholding support through trained micro enterprise consultants (MECs)
- Enabling State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLM) to formulate state policy for enterprise promotion and support
