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The winners of the Photography competition and logo designing competition organised in connection with the Animal Birth Control programme of Kudumbashree Mission is announced. ' Stray Dog Issue' was the theme for Photography Competition. Shri. Sumesh Kodiyath, Photographer, Deshabhimani Thiruvannathapuram unit bagged the first prize and Shri. Sudharmadas, Chief Photographer, Kerala Kaumudi Ernakulam unit bagged the second prize for the Photography Competition. The Award for the First Prize and Second prize would be Rs.10,000 and Rs.5,000 respectively. Shri. Pradeep Kumar,Senior Photographer, Malayala Manorama, Malappuram Unit received special Jury Mention.

Shri. K.S. Ananthakrishnan bagged the first prize for the logo designing competition. The Award for First prize is Rs.10,000. Shri. R. Gopalakrishnan, renowned Photographer was the External Expert of the Jury who selected the winners. Smt. R. Ramlath Director, Kudumbashree Mission, Smt.Jayanthi Narendranath, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree Mission and Dr. L. Ravi Kumar, ABC Expert, Kudumbashree Mission were the other Jury members.

  The Awards would be distributed to the winners at the programme which would be held as part of the conclusion of the 'Suraksha-2018' Awareness Campaign organised connection with the Animal Birth Control programme of Kudumbashree Mission at Thiruvananthapuram on 31 July 2018.

Kudumbashree District Mission of Pathanamthitta is all set to enter into Tourism Sector through  their Gavi Package. Associating with Scheduled Caste Development Department, Government of Kerala, Forest Department and District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC)  Kudumbashree District Mission of Pathanamthitta would soon launch the Gavi Package. Kudumbashree would receive Rs 89 lakhs sanctioned for the same by the Scheduled Castes Development Department.  

As part of the initiative, 3 mini restaurants would be set up at Kodumon, Angamoozhi and Kochu Pamba engaging the Kudumbashree members. Kodumnon Panchayath will allot the land for the  restaurant which will be opened at Kodumon. At Angamoozhi, the restaurant would be set up near Angamoozhi bowl boat boat ride at Seethathode Panchayath and the land for the restaurant at Kochu Pamba would be provided by KSEB. 

Kudumbashree Mission would buy two mini luxury buses for operating the daily tour between Adoor and Gavi. E-tender for buying the buses had already been invited. The proposed mini bus would start journey from Adoor DTPC Centre. One of the buses would be for a one day journey and the other would be for two day journey. The one day tour package will cover Adoor, Kodumon, Konni, Thanithode, Chittar, Angamoozhi, Gavi, Thekkady, Kumily and return to Adoor via Mundakkayam. The one day trip is priced Rs.2000 inclusive of food. Whereas the the two day trip will cover Kottayam, Kumarakom, Alappuzha and return to Adoor and will be charged Rs 4000, which would also include the food charges. 

More than 75 % of the man power for the project would be met from the Scheduled Caste families. As per the plan, the consortium comprising the Departments of Scheduled Caste Development, Forest, Kudumbashree Mission, and the DTPC would monitor the project.

Kudumbashree Matrimony, the innovative initiative put forward by Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission which stand out unique being the first of its kind in the state, is being extended to other districts of Kerala. It's following the success of the initiative, it is being scaled up to other districts.1000 volunteers had already been given training and the operations at Kazargode District would be started very soon. Kudumbashree Matrimony would be extended to Kannur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kollam Districts by August 2018. District wise offices would be opened in the first phase and later Block wise and Taluk wise offices would also be opened.The District wise offices would have District Co-ordinators as well.Those interested may register to the matrimony may make their registrations directly or through phone or online. The existing website of the Kudumbashree Matrimony at Thrissur would be used for the state level operations as well.

Smt. Sindhu Balan is the woman behind this innovative initiative. She put forward the idea of Kudumbashree Matrimony during the Plan Review Meeting held at Thrissur District Mission office. It is possible to get an accurate picture of the potential brides and grooms through the Kudumbashree networks very easily. No other organisation have such a network like that Kudumbashree holds and therefore it would be easily possible to get a correct profile of the potential candidates seeking alliance without any difficulty. And therefore the issues caused by the marriage fraudsters could be avoided. According to Sindhu, only Kudumbashree Mission could something against the marriage frauds, by making use of the vast network that Kudumbashree possess all over the state.

Kudumbashree Matrimony started functioning when Shri. A.C Moideen, Minister for Industries, Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Kerala inaugurated the initiative in 25 July 2016 at Porkkulam, near Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district. Kudumbashree matrimony unit would be charging much lower amount than the other commercial establishments in the field. The fees fixed currently are Rs 750 for the youngsters from the families of the Kudumbashree members and Rs 1000 for those from the potential brides and grooms from other families. The best matches for the bride and groom are founded through software. Those have internet access may login through the website and get the details of the matching profiles and for the others, the matching profiles are sent through post. The details of the bride and groom would be posted in the website only after cross checking it with the concerned CDSs.

As Kudumbashree Matrimony at Thrissur is to celebrate the second anniversary, it had successfully made happen more than 100 marriages so far. Kudumbashree Matrimony is earning an average of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 every month. The nominal rate and good quality are the hallmark of Kudumbashree Matrimony that more people getting attracted to it.

The Student Support Centre of DDU-GKY was officially launched. Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala inaugurated the Student Support Centre at a function held at Kanakakkunnu Palace Main Hall on 10 July 2018. The Student Support Centre consists of Migration Support Centre, Job Portal and Call Centre. Minister made the official launch by making a call to the Call Centre which is set up at Ernakulam. The Support Centre would help to minimize the exploitation existing in the employment sector. Minister said. DDUGKY Kerala has become a role model for the whole nation by launching the first-of- its kind Student Support Centre in Kerala. The Job seekers would be able to get idea about the current openings through DDUGKY Job Portal. He added.

The Awards for the Best Project Implementing Agencies (PIA) was also given away at the function. Wayanad Social Service Society, Dentcare Dental Labs Private Limited from Muvattupuzha and Mega Industries from Thrissur bagged the First, second and third prizes respectively. Minister also launched the 3 'Promotional Videos' made by KSFDC for the promotional activities of DDUGKY programme in Kerala.

DDUGKY Kerala had received the national award for being the second best state nodal agency for implementing DDU-GKY programme during 2017-18 and had also bagged the national award for being the third best state nodal agency for implementing DDU-GKY programme during 2016-17. Kudumbashree Mission has been working to reduce the vagaries associated with migration of the DDU-GKY youth in three ways by offering them suitable training opportunities, helping them prepare for employment away from home and by providing counseling and support services for a reasonable period of time which would enable them to adapt to a foreign environment. Migration Support Centres (MSCs) established at Kochi is a further step in this direction.

Migration Support Centre offers counseling, access to information, acclimatization support and targeted services to displaced workers. It’s services also include pre-migration preparatory support for both domestic and abroad placed candidates, post-placement counseling, registering migrant workers and undertaking periodic counseling, facilitate accommodation, undertaking qualitative research amongst candidates and employers as follow-up to post placement tracking, job retention and career progression counseling, facilitation for securing utility services, provide inter-department or inter-institution liaison support, providing support to workers in case of exigencies and work disputes etc. The call centre would help in resolving the grievances of candidates and act as an important source of information for candidates, and would also act as Public Grievance Redressal system. The job portal would enable the employer to select the appropriate aspirant from a pool of trained candidates from training centres across the state. The employees would also get the information on the current openings as well. The monitoring of the same would be done by the Kudumbashree SRLM. The software will have provision to update the data of the 20,000 candidates of DDU-GKY who had received job placements till now, which will help in tracking the candidates. The Migration Support Centre was started in Kochi itself as most of the students find job opportunities in Kochi.

DDUGKY, the skill training and placement programme under the Ministry of Rural Development ( MoRD) occupies a unique position amongst the other skill training programmes due to its focus to the poor rural youth and its emphasis on sustainable employment through the prominence and incentives given to post placement tracking, retention and career progression. Kudumbashree SRLM is planning to give skill training to 30,000 rural youth during 2018-2019.

For attaining self sufficiency on demand of the propagation material for Kudumbashree as well as for the supply of best quality seedlings and saplings to all at reasonable and uniform rates throughout Kerala, Kudumbashree Mission would soon launch Jaivika plant Nurseries across the state. Till then, Kudumbashree had been depending on Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) for meeting the seedling requirements. Presently, Kudumbashree have 159 existing plant nurseries in hand. In addition to this, 140 new plant nursery units would be established, in a manner of 10 units per district in the common brand name 'Jaivika'.

Considering the aspects such as sizable plot, road access, and availability of the basic resources, the nursery sites would be identified in the respective districts.140 units would be identified and given high end training in different propagation and maintenance techniques. The training would be imparted to the selected groups or individuals through various government departments or skilled personnel from other established units. These nurseries would have all kinds of planting materials including vegetables, fruit trees, ornamental plants and common trees developed through the latest propagation methods.

Revolving funds would be extended to each unit for the same. Scale up and branding of existing Kudumbashree nurseries are also contemplated along with. Online monitoring of stocks and sales will be done at later stage to ensure the sustainability of these nurseries.

Muttathe Mulla scheme which involves the disbursement of loans at low rates of interests to rural households was launched as a pilot project in Palakkad. Shri. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswoms, Government of Kerala launched the scheme at a programme held at Palakkad on 26 June 2018.The programme is implemented by Department of Co-operation, Government of Kerala with the support of Kudumbashree, aiming at liberating the women from the local blade mafia and also private micro finance companies as the latter's interest rates vary between 24 and 30 percent.

Muttathe Mulla seeks to disburse loans at lower rates of interest and the women have to repay it on a weekly basis. Under the scheme, each woman will be disbursed a loan between Rs 1,000 and Rs 25,000.The interest rate will be 12 percent, that is Rs 1 for a loan of Rs 100 for one month. Loans which can be repaid in 10 weeks were also available. The loans will also be given to close old loans taken from blade companies which can be settled on a one-time basis. The scheme is being implemented in each ward through the three units of the Kudumbashree which would be selected based on its efficiency in its working and its credibility. The members of Kudumbashree will go to the houses of its members who need loans and disburse it to them. They would also collect the loan repayment visiting the households in weekly basis. Each Kudumbashree unit will get a cash credit of Rs 10 lakh at an interest of 9 percent would be disbursed as loan. Of the 12 percent interest to be levied, 9 percent will go to the primary cooperative societies, and 3 percent to the Kudumbashree women. Therefore the Muttathe Mulla Programme of Department of co-operation would help the Kudumbashree women raise themselves while raising their fellow citizens, putting an end to the exploitation of the local blade mafia and private micro finance companies.

Kudumbashree Mission in convergence with the Kollam Corporation has launched Reverse Osmosis plant (RO Plant) in Kollam Corporation. The RO Plant was inaugurated by Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Harbour Engineering and Cashew Industry, Government of Kerala on 28 June 2018. Located at the premises of Kollam Corporation, the plant is run by ' Mithra' a group of 5 selected women from Kudumbashree groups in Kollam. Minister said that the Venad Purified Water would be a solution for the drinking water scarcity in Kollam District.

Kudumbashree had launched the idea of launching a Reverse Osmosis Plant to produce bottled drinking water, as part of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission Project being implemented in Kerala. The bottled drinking water is named as ‘Venad Purified Water’. The public need to give only a nominal charge of just Rs 25 for 20 litres of Venad Purified Water. The total investment of the project is Rs 25.5 lakhs which is met from LSG fund, bank loan and Kudumbashree financial assistance. The other RO plants are located at Kozhikode Old Corporation office, Malappuram Corporation, Kasaragod Municipality, and Kochi.