By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Kudumbashree, the widely-acclaimed women-oriented poverty eradication mission of Kerala is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy officially inaugurated the anniversary celebrations in the northern city of Kozhikode yesterday, where he declared Kerala as a complete ‘Ayalkkoottam State’ with neighbourhood groups taking care of every woman to become economically independent.
Officials said more than 30,000 members of Kudumbashree from across Kerala gathered at the Swapna Nagari to celebrate the 15th year of being part of one of the largest and most successful women’s empowerment projects in the country. A host of federal and state ministers also attended the event.
The Kudumbashree targets creation of 100,000 jobs and community farming in over 24,000 hectares of land in this financial year. All the community development societies (CDS) chiefs are being trained in the activities of National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
It also intends to expand the number of beneficiaries under the Asraya programme for rehabilitation of destitute and marginalised families under the second phase which will be rolled out soon. The project supports the poorest of the poor by providing them food, care for chronic illnesses and shelter, among other things.
The CDS chiefs from across the country narrated a number of stories of hope, triumph and empowerment of women from less privileged backgrounds who have ventured into unknown territories with the guidance and support of Kudumbashree.
The projects include Pathiri Gramam in Malappuram where a group of women runs a business making and selling thin rice flat breads that are popular in Malabar. They manufacture 10,000 to 15,000 ‘pathiris’ every day, sold door-to-door for less than half of what it costs in shops. The Alamcode CDS has also helped ensure 100% microcredit for its neighbourhood groups, with 93 micro enterprises, each operated by five women, benefiting from this. It has also brought 1,850 acres of land under cultivation through Joint Liability Groups.
Kudumbashree workers have also carried out a crime mapping of the area and are working to ensure the safety of vulnerable women and children, with the full support of local law enforcement officials. Another success story is that of Edakkattuvayal in Ernakulam, which, like Alamcode has been named one of Kudumbashree’s five best rural CDSs.
A group of 10 women operates a local transport service, “Kudumbashree Travels” with a single bus that makes a dozen trips on the Piravom-Mulanthuruthy route every day connecting rural areas to towns. Except the driver, all workers on the bus are women and the members are learning to drive heavy vehicles to turn it into an all-women service.
