Vision:
A society based on egalitarian principles andfood sovereignty.

Mission:
Ending socio-economic exploitation by enabling people to claim and exercise their democratic rights through social movements and participation in democratic decision-making. Empowering poor with knowledge and skill for diversified and better livelihood opportunities.

IMSE believes that poverty alleviation, equality and social justice could be achieved only through awareness generation, capacity development and sustained self-employment of poor actors. Set in motion by a group of visionary and energetic young souls, who began their journey in 1973,the organization has come a long way through different phases of development while establishing its presence over various parts of eastern India as well as regional (South Asia) and International levels.

The organization which began its journey with a view of development of entrepreneurship for a paradigm shift, gradually started venturing into the fields of mass education (adult education, pre-primary school for the BPL households), rural health care, sustainable agriculture, women empowerment, capacity development of self-help groups, capacity development of Panchayat memberstowards better governance. It organizes various vocational training programmes for rural youths especially women, in its urban and rural settings.

Along with an expansion in its areas of interest, the areas of operation also extended to far-flung areas of Orissa (coastal belt in Baleshwar &Bhadrak) and Jharkhand apart from several districts of West Bengal.

IMSE is registered as a society (under society's registration act) with income tax exemption being not for profit organization (12A) and it also has FCRA, to receive foreign grants. It has seven members' board with six dynamic women leaders. The board is the supreme decision-making body and the organisation has a federal structure at state and district levels, with small offices in various districts and staff as well as members present there.The coordination office or Head Office is Located at 195 Jodhpur Park, Kolkata 700068.IMSE has an advisory group comprising of well-known academicians, scientists, civil society personalities, who extend support and solidarity to the organization thematically.

Presently IMSE is working in 97 villages of West Bengal mainly among small and marginal peasants, peasant women and women in unorganized sectors, fishers and tribal communities who are marginalized. It has its' presence in 22 villages in Odisha (two districts) and 7 villages in Jharkhand (one district) where it is working mainly among coastal fishers and tribal forest dwellers.

IMSE also runs severalgovernment sponsored schemes like SadarGriha (short stay home for destitute women) at Bardhaman district and ICDS training centre (for Anganwadi workers) at Labpur of Birbhum district.IMSE is enrolled under PBSSD (Skill India Programme). In Birbhum IMSE has worked with NIRDPR to capture good practices at Panchayat level (in terms of leadership development through various government interventions).

Since its inception, IMSE has been trying to mainstream a rights based and gender sensitive approaches in all its interventions, for those living on the margins of society and to create awareness among them so that they can raise a collective voice for a better society, free from exploitation.

In the past few decades, the organisation has been able to extend help to more than a million people with its activities.

The women's network of IMSE has successfully promoted gender equality at various strata of society and spread awareness about basic human rights, entitlements and responsibilities IMSE implements Economic Empowerment Programme among 43,000 rural women and youths, living below the poverty line. The grassroots level organisation has also been promoting agrarian reforms and organic agriculture in its working areas. By doing so, IMSE highlights an alternative development paradigm, based on principles of food security, sovereignty and social justice. At present the key focus of IMSE is promotion of farmers' welfare (small scale food producers' welfare) through promotion of organic farming at policy level and in practice. In doing so IMSE has tried best to connect policy makers, producers and consumers directly, eliminating various intermediaries and ensuring key stakeholders are directly benefited.

During its journey spanning over more than four decades, IMSE has led several large-scale movements for unionization of the unorganized workers for attaining their various rights, overcoming violations like non-implementation of their minimum wages, non-implementation of social security schemes designed for them, movements against such SEZ projects, which undermines rights of workers. Thus IMSE directly worked with Foundry sector workers and owners in Howrah, with support of TERI and successfully developed one workers -owners platform which is linked with relevant ministries for support and conflict mitigation. This is coupled with modernisation of technology for reducing climate concerns. eviction of the poor and destruction of their livelihood.

Some of IMSE's success stories in the field of unionisation, motivation and social actions include large-scale peasant movements in West Bengal for Operation Barga and land reforms in the 70s, anti-eviction resistances by the fisher folk in BhograiBaliapal in Odisha. IMSE was the pioneer organisation to kick start anti-eviction movement in Singur by filing the first PIL and by linking the issue to international organisation like FIAN International and presenting the case to UNHRC. Also, in Nandigram in West Bengal IMSE played an active role in sensitising small food producers and government about how to work on inclusive development plan and ensuring free prior informed consent of people compulsorily before any land acquisition. Later IMSE organised public consultations on LARR bill and sent concrete inputs to respective ministries.

IMSE has empowered tribal communities, to a great extent, to assert their claim over Common Resources and to access land under FRA in Dumka, Jharkhand. In Odisha with support of IMSE fishers of East coast form a registered trade union and fisher women are now forming a formal cooperative for better livelihood and value-added products, as well as to have better access to markets.

IMSE encourages voluntarism among people to organise the deprived sections of society so that they raise their voices for a just society.