Poverty still looms large over the world, particularly in the developing countries. One in every four Indians still lacks the most fundamental of human needs-clean drinking water, shelter, electricity, and basic health care. TERI has worked for three decades to empower the poor; our experience has shown that these vital needs cannot be addressed in isolation. We must find ways to meet all these needs together. Only then can we improve the quality of life of the individual, and thereby bring about tangible human and economic development. In other words, instead of isolated interventions that focus on meeting one or the other need, we must take an integrated approach to tackling poverty.

INSTEP (Integrating New and Sustainable Technologies for Elimination of Poverty) takes such an integrated approach. INSTEP is a vehicle that will deliver a package of technology based solutions to meet the various needs of a community through schemes like "Adopt a Village". INSTEP believes that a combination of technology-based solutions will bring higher benefits rather than isolated interventions >>