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Kudumbashree receives Government Order entrusting Kudumbashree Construction & ARISE teams for public works without any tender

Kudumbashree has received Government Order entrusting Kudumbashree Construction teams & ARISE Multi task teams for taking up small public works without tender. The Finance Department issued an order enabling the departments to hire services of Kudumbashree construction groups and ARISE multi task teams for small works costing upto Rs 2 lakhs. The order will be valid for the activities which would come under the Public Works Department, Irrigation Department, Local Self Government and Kerala Water Authority. As per the government order, Kudumbashree groups can be entrusted for the services such as filling of potholes in roads, cleaning of choked drains, cutting and moving the branches of the trees on the road sides, small repairs of culverts, and the cleaning and maintenance of public buildings in pre-monsoon period. In addition, it is also mentioned in the order that, the Annual Maintenance Contract of water supply, sanitary and electrical works of repetitive nature can be entrusted with such specialised construction/ ARISE groups registered under Kudumbashree.

It was noticed that due to lack of timely maintenance or repair works to the public structures including roads and buildings causes subsequent incurring of heavy expenditure due to the delay. On identifying this issue, the Government decided to entrust the registered Kudumbashree construction, multi task teams for resolving the same. The decision was made on the suggestion put forward by Kudumbashree through the Local Self Government Department. As of now there are 288 construction groups functioning under Kudumbashree, which has 2376 women as members. 216 multi task teams comprising 734 members who had got specialized training in electrical works, electronics repairing and plumbing sectors are functioning after registering under Kudumbashree. They have got an opportunity to receive a regular, permanent income through this Government order.

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It was noticed that due to lack of timely maintenance or repair works to the public structures including roads and buildings causes subsequent incurring of heavy expenditure due to the delay

Kudumbashree extend the message of 'Break the Chain' Campaign to 44 lakh families

Through Kudumbashree, the message of the 'Break the Chain' Campaign of Health Department is being spread to the 44 lakh families. There are 2,99,297 Kudumbashree neighbourhood groups in Kerala. Each NHG has 10 to 20 members. We have given a detailed note to every Kudumbashree NHGs to discuss and spread the message of the importance of 'Break the Chain' Campaign. The aim is to spread awareness about the precautions to be taken by each families to stay safe from the spread of the corona virus disease. By discussing this message in the NHG meetings, we hope that we would be able to give leadership to fight back this corona virus disease and address the anxieties of the society.

Instructions has been given to start the NHG meetings only after washing the hands. The need and importance of washing hands using soap or sanitizers will reach to the NHG members and their families through this. Based on the instructions developed by the Health Department, note highlighting duty of each member and general awareness about corona virus disease is given to the NHGs and they have been directed to discuss the same. It is noted that mortality due to corona is relatively high for elderly people and those people who are sick. The note for the NHGs includes guidelines for Kudumbashree NHGs about the actions to be taken by the elderly and sick people. Elaborate instructions were given for those who are in quarantine. Also, general instructions for NHG about extending support to the quarantined families is mentioned in the note.

Precautions to be taken by the families to stay safe from the infection of this disease, actions that may be taken by NHGs to ensure the public health as per the instructions from the district administration and Health Department will be discussed in all NHG s during the weekly meetings. The aim is to ensure that there’s adequate precaution and that there is no panic. Kudumbashree expects the active participation of the NHG members in 'Break the Chain' campaign and hope that through Kudumbashree's outreach program, the message will reach up to the grass root level. By reaching out to 44 lakh families in the state, Kudumbashree Mission would be able to give awareness about corona virus disease to the society.

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Elaborate instructions were given for those who are in quarantine.

Corona: Kudumbashree tailoring units start making cotton masks

Kudumbashree's tailoring units have started making cotton masks to help the public fight back corona virus. Kudumbashree have as many small and medium tailoring units functioning across the 14 districts in Kerala. Out of these units, 268 tailoring units have started the process of making cotton masks. Masks are being prepared as per the orders received from health department and the stitching of the same had already been started. The total production capacity of all the units put together is approximately 1,30,000 masks per day. Instructions were given to stitch cotton masks as per the orders received, based on the production capacity of the respective districts. Now, Kudumbashree units have received the order for making cloth (cotton) masks for Health Department of Kerala. The orders obtained at the districts are being received and masks are being stitched under the supervision of respective District Mission Co-ordinators of Kudumbashree.

In Thiruvananthapuram district, Kudumbashree received the order for producing 50,000 cotton masks from Health Department of Kerala. Order for 20,000 cotton masks had been received from Idukki district as well. The units have started the process of procuring clothes after receipt of orders and they have started production. The process will take a couple of days to streamline. Once the initial coordination would be achieved, the process of receiving orders and delivering the masks will streamlined.The present production capacity of these units is 1.30 lakh masks per day. The activities are progressing to complete the received orders with utmost quality and to hand over the same on time. The price of the cotton mask is fixed as per the cloth used and the quality. Kudumbashree have started getting more orders in districts as the information of Kudumbashree units making masks began to spread. Directions had been given to the respective District Mission Coordinators to increase the production capacity by increasing the working time and by engaging more units. These women are making efforts to fight back the spread of corona virus disease.

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Now, Kudumbashree units have received the order for making cloth (cotton) masks for Health Department of Kerala.

Kudumbashree launches 'Veetiloru Kudumbashree Ulppannam' Campaign

Kudumbashree launched 'Veetiloru Kudumbashree Ulppannam' Campaign and would reach out to the households of Kerala on 15 March 2020. The poster of the campaign was launched by Shri. A.C Moideen, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala by giving the same to Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree on 26 February 2020. As part of 'Veetiloru Kudumbashree Ulppannam' Campaign, the women entrepreneurs and CDS members would reach out to the households. The campaigns aims at making the products produced by the entrepreneurs working in the agro micro enterprises more popular and help them secure regional markets.

It is as part of observing this financial year as the 'Year of Livelihood' and the International Women's Day Celebrations, that the campaign is being launched under the leadership of Kudumbashree. The campaign envisages at introducing the products of Kduumbashree to each families and thereby increase its acceptability and market. On 15 March 2020, under the leadership of respective CDSs, Kudumbashree entrepreneurs, ADS representatives would reach out to every households with diverse products and would explain about the products they make and would also explain about the nano markets and other marketing outlets, where Kudumbashree products would be available. The general public would get an opportunity to buy ethnic products at nominal rates through this.The campaign would be supported by the respective District Mission Co-ordinators, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinators, District Programme Managers, Block Co-ordinators and CDS Chairpersons. It is expected that through this campaign, it would be able to find local markets for the products and by taking the products directly to the households, a permanent marketing activity would be opened.

'She Talk' programme would be organised on 7 March 2020 to felicitate the Best Entrepreneurs in the respective Districts and would arrange their experience sharing sessions as well. The micro entrepreneurs would be extended trainings on Business Development in various sectors. In addition to this, on 16 March 2020, nano markets would be set up in all Supermarkets, Shops an bakeries in each CDS, where Kudumbashree products would be available regularly.

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It is as part of observing this financial year as the 'Year of Livelihood' and the International Women's Day Celebrations, that the campaign is being launched under the leadership of Kudumbashree.

Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Groups bags National Award

Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) bagged the National Award constituted by National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for the best performing NHGs. Panchami NHG from Kondoor Panchayath of Kottayam District and Ushas NHG of Azhikode Village of Thrissur District are the NHGs which bagged the National Award. Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Rural Development, Government of India will give away the awards at the function to be held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, in connection with the Women's Day Celebrations on 7 March 2020.

The Award is constituted for felicitating the NHGs who had shown outstanding performance. The activities performed during the previous financial year would be considered for giving the awards. The number of NHG meetings called, number of members attended, average attendance of each member, number of members who had attended trainings, total thrift, disbursal of corpus fund, internal lending status, community investment fund availed, corpus fund, total number of bank loans availed, number of units started using the bank loans, annual income, number of entrepreneurs included, scope of the enterprise, income, consistency, number of individual micro enterprises, regularity in keeping register, number of members who have personal bank accounts, ratio of the members who have insurance coverage, ratio of members who have latrine facility at their homes and the leadership quality were the criteria for deciding the award.

As per the guidelines, the respective district missions had submitted selected 3 NHGs from every districts. The selection committee from Kudumbashree State Mission selected the best 3 NHGs out of the 42 NHGs selected by the districts and submitted to NRLM and out of those 3 NHGs two of them bagged the award.

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The Award is constituted for felicitating the NHGs who had shown outstanding performance.

Houses constructed at Alappuzha using the CSR fund of Ramoji Film City handed over to the beneficiaries

The 121 houses constructed at Alappuzha using CSR fund of Ramoji Film City handed over to beneficiaries. Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister, Government of Kerala handed over the keys of the houses to the beneficiaries at the programme held at Camelot Convention Centre, Alappuzha on 9 February 2020.

Alappuzha was one of the districts which was severely devastated during the unprecedented floods that happened in Kerala during 2018. Ramoji Film City, headquartered at Hyderabad came forward to support construction of new houses for those who had lost their shelter during the floods. This support came from Ramoji Film City as a sponsorship towards the project ‘I am for Alleppey’, initiated by the then sub collector Shri. Krishna Teja, IAS. Ramoji team offered a sum of Rs 7 crore to Government of Kerala, for the construction of 116 houses. The Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala recommended that the construction of these houses could be done through Kudumbashree. The decision was to entrust Kudumbashree women construction groups for building these houses. Based on this decision, the contract was signed between Executive Director, Kudumbashree and Ramoji Film City officials during April 2019.

As per the agreement, it was decided to build 116 houses using Rs 7 crores. Each house cost Rs 6 lakhs. But Kudumbashree team was able to minimize the expenses and could built another 5 houses in addition. So in total, 121 houses were constructed by Kudumbashree women construction groups at Alappuzha.It is a moment of pride that Kudumbashree team completed the construction of all the houses within 8 months, i.e., much before the predetermined date of completion. The construction of these houses were completed by 215 Kudumbashree women who had received training in construction. A total of 43 construction groups became part of the building process.

It is a moment of happiness that Kudumbashree was able to complete construction of houses for those who lost their shelters during flood. Kudumbashree teams could complete the construction of the houses before the planned schedule. Also, there was no cost escalation (and there was savings, with which additional five houses were also constructed). This would undoubtedly be the golden moment in the history of Kudumbashree women construction groups.

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As per the agreement, it was decided to build 116 houses using Rs 7 crores.

Kerala Budget 2020-21 allocates Rs 1550 Crores for Kudumbashree Mission

Kerala Budget 2020-21 allocated Rs 1550 Crores for Kudumbashree Mission to implement various programmes of Kudumbashree and for the welfare programmes for women. Rs 250 is allotted as the Budget allocation and in addition to this, Rs 200 crore is allocated from Rebuild Kerala for livelihood enterprises. Including the financial assistance from the Local Self Government Institutions, Rs 600 crores is the total budget of Kudumbashree. In addition to this, the Centrally Sponsored programmes of Rs 950 crores in the urban areas are also implemented through Kudumbashree.

The main Budget Mentions regarding Kudumbashree include:

Bank loans of Rs 3000 crores would be given to the Kudumbashree members at 4% interest rate.
A total of 1000 hunger free hotels would be opened which would serve lunch at Rs 25 per meal.
She Lodges would be started in every towns to ensure safety of the commuting women.
A total of 200 Kerala Chicken Outlets would be opened.
1000 Haritha enterprises would be launched.
50 hotels with daily turnover of Rs.30,000 would be started.
Management of 500 toilet complexes would be given to Kudumbashree.
5000 new enterprises would be launched.
14 tribal micro projects in the Alappuzha model would also be started.
Organic Farming would be done in 20,000 acres of land.
500 Gender Resource Centres would also be launched.
Home Shops would be opened in all districts in Kozhikode Homeshop model.
Kudumbashree Internship programme would be started and would be given to Kudumbashree.
Kudumbashree Chitties would be started.
Pakalveed would be started for 2 or 3 wards and the 25,000 ELderly NHGs would be connected to this.
Rs 35 crores is allocated for BUDS Schools.
A programme for giving employment to 1.5 lakh people per year will be started through Local Self Government Institutions in non agrarian sector through local ventures. Employment should be created at the rate of one person per thousand persons. Kudumbashree will also become part of this.

The achievements of Kudumbashree were also presented at the Budget Speech. Kudumbashree had contributed much in increasing the visibility of women in the society. The number of Kudumbashree members increased from 40 lakhs t0 45 lakhs and the Bank linkage loan was increased from Rs 5,717 crores to Rs 10,499 crores and the number of enterprises increased from 10,777 to 23,453.The number of farming groups was increased from 54,000 to 68,000. It was stated in the last budget that Kudumbashree would introduce brand based centralized marketing for 12 micro entrepreneurship items. As part of this, agreement has been executed for manufacturing products such as umbrella, coconut products and curry powders on cluster basis with common name and selling it through the outlets of Civil Supplies Corporation. Kerala Chicken has been launched in the market. Already around 1000 poultry units are working under Kudumbashree. Under the brand name „Nutrimix‟, general nutritious food items were introduced in the market. 212 handicraft products were launched online in the market. Also, 275 Building construction units run by women, 206 Multi Task teams, 76 Event Management Teams were started. Agreement has been executed for starting more than 100 “Take-A-Break” centres. 25,000 Elderly NHGs were formed and Snehitha Calling Bell Scheme was launched for the elderly people who stay isolated.

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The achievements of Kudumbashree were also presented at the Budget Speech.

Kudumbashree join hands with NABARD and Bank of India for making available Agri loans

Kudumbashree had joined hands with NABARD and Bank of India for making available Agri loans for 3000 farming groups to pursue cultivation and other farming activities. It is for catering the various needs in connection with farming and help the women identify better livelihood opportunities in this sector. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the same was signed between Shri. S. Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission, Shri. J.Suresh Kumar, Deputy General Manager, NABARD and Shri. Vimal Kumar .G, Deputy Zonal Manager, Bank of India at Kudumbashree State Mission office on 29 January 2020.

Kudumbashree had made discussions with NABARD for getting the financial assistance for making active 3000 farming groups of Kudumbashree. The farming groups who were suffering due to the shortage of land would get loans upto Rs 10 lakhs without giving any security. The farming groups which do farming by taking land on lease could therefore avail bank loans without submitting the contract of lease. Bank of India would give Bank loans to the farming groups. Based on the regular repayment of this loan, NABARD would give promotional incentive of Rs 2000 each per group to Kudumbashree. The farming groups would be able to improve their farming and make the same active, extend the cultivation to maximum area of land, implement converged agricultural techniques, make value added products, make avail modern agricultural machinery etc and also be able to cater various other needs through this ban loan. It is the duty of the respective district missions to identify the deserving group farming units.For this the officials of the district missions and the representative of Bank of India would work together.

Kudumbashree had been following the process of forming farming groups of women and help them do farming in large area if land and earn better livelihood of their own. NABARD has analysed and identified it was an apt and useful method. NABARD would give needed agro-technical trainings to the community resource persons who work with the women. Project Implementation and Monitoring Committee would be formed and conducted once in 3 months to analyse the development of the project. The committee would include Deputy Divisional Manager, NABARD, Area Manager, Bank of India, Branch Managers of the respective branches, Lead District Manager and the representatives of Kudumbashree.

It is for the third time that Bank of India came forward to extend financial support to the various programme beneficiaries of Kudumbashree. Presently Bank of India had been associating with Kudumbashree in implementing Pradhan Manthri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Kerala Chicken programmes. Shri. G. Mahesh Kumar, Deputy General Manager, Bank of India, Shri. Parameshwara Iyer.P, Chief Manger, Bank of India, Shri. Rajesh.R, Senior Manager, Bank of India, Shri. Rakesh.V, Manager, NABARD, Shri. Dathan.C.S.,Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, Ms. Aiswarya.E,A, State Assistant Programme Manager, Kudumbashree Ms. Arya S.B, State Assistant Programme Manager, Kudumbashree also attended the function.

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NABARD has analysed and identified it was an apt and useful method. NABARD would give needed agro-technical trainings to the community resource persons who work with the women.

‘Kudumbashree oru Nerchithram’ Season 3- Photography Competition: Date extended till 29 February 2020

The date for submitting entries for 'Kudumbashree oru Nerchithram' Season 3- Photography Competition is extended till 29 February 2020. Kudumbashree Mission launched Season 3 of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ Photography Competition for motivating the aspiring photographers and to propagate the activities of Kudumbashree Mission through photographs.

The contestants may submit photographs that would reflect the priority projects of Kudumbashree Mission. The photographs should reflect the activities of Kudumbashree such as, Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Group meetings, various enterprises run by Kudumbashree women including Kudumbashree canteens and cafes, the farming activities of Kudumbahsree women, the parking management of Kudumbashree women at railway stations and various other spots, the waiting halls managed by Kudumbashree entrepreneurs, house keeping services and the activities of the BUDS institutions etc.

The jury comprising of renowned photographers and officials of Kudumbashree Mission will select the winner. The Award for the Best Photographer will be Rs 20,000. The second prize and third prize will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 respectively. Rs 1000 each will be issued for 10 entries as consolation prizes.

Entries may be send to the mail id kudumbashreeprcontest@gmail.com or may be sent in CD Format to the address, The Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Mission Office, Trida Building, Medical college P.O, Thiruvananthapuram-695011. The name, address, mail id and contact number should be mentioned along with. A short note on the photograph should be attached along with. The photographs should not contain any watermarks. More details of the notification is available in the link : www.kudumbashree.org/photography2020

The first season of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ was conducted during November- December 2017 and the second season was conducted during February -March 2019 and was a grant success. More than 1200 photographs were received altogether and it is on following the success of the last two seasons of the competitions, that the third season of the Photography Competition is being launched.Kudumbashree Mission which envisions at eradicating poverty through women in Kerala had successfully completed 21 revolutionary years.

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ntries may be send to the mail id kudumbashreeprcontest@gmail.com or may be sent in CD Format to the address, The Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Mission Office, Trida Building, Medical college P.O, Thiruvananthapuram-695011.

Kudumbashree publishes Memoirs of Kudumbashree Members

Kudumbashree publishes Memoirs of Kudumbashree Members (Ormapusthakangal) from 14 districts across the state. Within the first three years of the inception in 1998, Neighbourhood groups, Area Development Societies (Federation of Neighborhood Groups) and Community Development Societies (Federation of Area Development Societies) were formed in all Local Self Government Institutions. The idea of publishing the memoirs of Kudumbashree members was originated in 2018, during the 20th anniversary of Kudumbashree. Government had announced that the memoirs of Kudumbashree members would be published in that year's budget itself.

For sharing the memories of 20 years and for converting the same into a book, Kudumbashree decided to conduct one workshop each in every district. The ‘Writeshops’ were conducted in all districts simultaneously and the same was coordinated by the Public Relations team of Kudumbashree. Kudumbashree CDSs ensured the active participation of Kudumbashree members in the workshop. The workshops were organised at all districts across the state during February-March 2018. Around 500 Kudumbashree members took part in the workshop. The write-ups prepared by the women were given for including in the memoirs. Along with that, stories of those who shared their experiences orally were prepared by Kudumbashree's Public Relations team. Kudumbashree has now published 14 books by compiling the stories received from 14 districts.

On going through these books, one would be able to know about the growth of this organisation, the stories of sacrifices of Kudumbashree members, the start of the changes that Kudumbashree had brought in to the society and also about the substratum of Kudumbashree network in detail. The public may read these books absolutely free of cost from this link: http://www.kudumbashree.org/pages/159, and know about the growth, empowerment and self reliance that a generation had attained through Kudumbashree.

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The idea of publishing the memoirs of Kudumbashree members was originated in 2018, during the 20th anniversary of Kudumbashree.