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Training for Balasabha Members as part of 'Sajjam'- Building Resilience Programme has started on 15 July 2023. The programme envisages preparing the new generation to face natural calamities. 608 District Level Resource Persons in 14 districts were trained by 28 trained Master Trainers and representatives of the State Disaster Management Authority on 30 June 2023 and 1 July 2023. Through these 608 Resource Persons around 1 lakh children aged between 13 and 17 years of age across the state will be trained in disaster preparedness.

The Two- Day National Workshop on PRI-CBO (Panchayati Raj Institutions-Community Based Organisations) Convergence Universalization Programme jointly organized by Ministry of Rural Development and Kudumbashree at Udaya Samudra Beach Hotel, Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram has concluded. Shri. Vikas Anand, Joint Secretary, MoPR talked on 'VPRP-GPDP (Village Poverty Reduction Plan-Grama Panchayat Development Plan) Integration: Scope of Convergence between CBOs and PRIs and Role of SIRD (State Institute of Rural Development), DoPR (Department of Panchayati Raj)'.

On the second day of the workshop, the Experiences from the Field Visits were shared by the Field Visit Teams in the session moderated by Ms. Kavita Maria, National Mission Manager, NMMU (National Mission Management Unit). The delegates were divided into 6 groups and they made field visits to Venganoor, Balaramapuram, Kottukal, Kanjiramkulam, Pallichal and Karakulam Panchayats and visited BUDS Institutions, Anganwadi, ALMSC (Anganwadi Level Monitoring and Support Committee, Budget Hotel (Janakeeya Hotel) and Haritha Karma Sena. They also made interactions with Panchayat, CDS and line department officials regarding Structure of Panchayat and CBO, Preparation of CDS Action Plans, Evaluation Committee, Women Component Plan, Destitute Free Kerala Programme, Micro Plan for Extreme Poor, Citizen’s committees, Sustainable Development Goals, VPRP- GPDP integration mechanisms and integration of schemes of line departments with GPDP. Prior to the presentation of the field visit teams, Ms. Priya Paul, Manager, PRI-CBO Convergence, Kudumbashree NRO explained the Three-Tier Community Structure of Kudumbashree in Kerala.

According to the delegates, the field visits gave them a wholesome experience and helped them to identify the gaps in their implementation and replicate the Kerala model. According to Dr. Prasada Rao Vaddarapu, CEO, Tripura SRLM, the Grama Panchayats in Kerala acts as a 'Mini Secretariat' and it is highly impressive. He added that Kerala has made tremendous achievements and Kerala should be considered a 'Global Model'. The delegates also mentioned about the effective convergence system they experienced and how this convergence is coming out. They also mentioned how systematically Haritha Karma Sena in the state is working. They also suggested that Janakeeya Hotels and BUDS Institutions are unique models from Kerala.

Dr. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary, Local Government Department, Government of Kerala moderated the Panel Discussion - PRI CBO Convergence: Role of MoPR (Ministry of Panchayati Raj), DoPR (Department of Panchayati Raj), NIRD (National Institute of Rural Administration), SIRD (State Institute of Rural Development).

Ms. Usha Rani, Lead IBCB, NRLM, moderated the Panel Discussion on 'Pilot experience of PRI-CBO Convergence' of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Meghalaya. Whereas, Ms. Jui Bhattacharya, National Mission Manager, NMMU moderated the State Operational Framework (SoF) Presentation of Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.

Ms. Smriti Sharan, Joint Secretary, MoRD spoke about the Way Forward. Shri. S. M Vijayanand, Former Chief Secretary of Kerala, Dr Prathyusha Bhatnaik, Assistant Professor, NIRDPR, Dr. Nirmala Sanu George, Advisor, Kerala State Finance Commission, Government of Kerala were also present at the function. Dr. B. Najeeb, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission delivered the vote of thanks. A Cultural Programme by a tribal group from Attappady was presented during the function.

 The officials of Housing and Urban Affairs visited the Best Practices of Kudumbashree in NULM. The team including Shri. Rahul Kapoor, Joint Secretary & Mission Director, DAY-NULM,  Dr Madhu Rani Teotia, Director, DAY- NULM, Ms. Shalini Pandey, Director, PM SVANidhi and other officials from the Ministry visited Kudumbashree Initiative for Business Solutions-KIBS at Kochi Metro & Water Metro. The team also paid a visit to Samridhi Hotel at Kochi Corporation run by Kudumbashree which serves affordable meals at Rs.10. The team made interactions with Shri. Loknath Behra, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and Kudumbashree NHG members.

Whereas the officials from other states visited the CLF activities and Convergences with the Urban Local Bodies at Thrissur Corporation and Women's Food Court, Thrissur, Harithakarmasena- Women Enterprises in Waste Management at Kunnamkulam Municipality, City Livelihood Centre through convergence with ULB and Tourism Department at Guruvayoor Municipality, Kudumbashree Premium Food Court.

On the last day of the National Workshop on 'Innovative Approach Towards Urban Poverty Alleviation', two Technical Sessions were held on 'International Best Practices in Urban Poverty Reduction' and 'Convergence for Inclusive Urban Livelihoods'.

Shri. Rahul Kapoor, Joint Secretary & Mission Director, DAY-NULM  moderated the first Technical Session- 'International Best Practices in Urban Poverty Reduction'. Dr. Ravi Chandra, Livelihoods & Value Chain Specialist, UNDP, Shri. Abhishek Anand, Partner, MicroSave, Ms. Manvita Baradi, Director, Urban Management Centre (UMC), Ms, Sanskriti Shree, Centre for Civil Society and Dr Monish Jose, Assistant Professor, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) were the panelists of the session.

Dr. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala was the moderator of the Technical Session-'Convergence for Inclusive Livelihoods'. The panelists of the session included Ms. Prakriti Mehtha, Deputy Advisor, Quality Council of India(QCI), Ms. Panchami Choudhury, State Mission Director, Assam, Ms, Amruta, Lighthouse Community, Pune, Ms. Meghna Malhotra, Deputy Director, UMC and Shri. Jahamgeer. S, Programme Officer (Urban), Kudumbashree.  

Dr Madhu Rani Teotia, Director, DAY- NULM & Ms. Anu Kumari IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree delivered vote of thanks on behalf of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Kudumbashree respectively. As a token of gratitude, the delegates were given 'Rain Makers' made by Tribal NHGs of Kudumbashree out of Bamboo.

Shri. M. B Rajesh, Minister, Local Self Government Department and Excise, Government of Kerala inaugurated the Two-Day National Workshop on 'Innovative Approaches Towards Urban Poverty Alleviation' at Adlux Convention Centre, Angamaly, Ernakulam and delivered the keynote address. The Minister said that this National Workshop would give a proper direction and new inspiration for NULM when we are going ahead. The Minister said that DAY-NULM in Kerala has been able to reach out to the significant section of urban poor. The state maintained consistency in the performance of implementing NULM. Kerala has been maintaining very good performance in SPARK Ranking for the last 6 years. He added.

Shri Rahul Kapoor, Joint Secretary & Mission Director, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission & PM SVANidhi made a presentation on 'DAY-NULM with a focus on NULM and way forward'. He said that we were waiting expectantly for what is going to be the future of NULM. He added that NULM and PM SVANidhi are two of the schemes that focus on the social aspect of urban areas under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, that look at the softer elements or softer aspects of improving the lives of the people, especially the vulnerable and directly connecting with them. NULM has its own shades of success and challenges and there is still scope of improvement. A collaborative approach of Government, Industry, Civil Society and Knowledge Partners is needed to address these challenges. So as we move forward to the closure of NULM 1.0, and as we think of the way this mission needs to be redesigned or restructured or the way we look at urban poverty alleviation is that probably we should look at things from a newer level. He added.

Ms. Sarada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala made a presentation on 'Poverty Eradication & Women. Ms. Anu Kumari, Executive Director (In-Charge), Kudumbashree and Shri. Sajith Sukumaran, COO, Kudumbashree NRO jointly made a presentation on 'Envisioning Kudumbashree as an Urban NRO'.

The states which have received SPARK Award for the Best Implementation of NULM were felicitated at the function. The SPARK Awards for the financial year 2021-22 (1st Rank-Andhra Pradesh, 2nd Rank-Kerala, 3rd Rank-Tamil Nadu) and NER & Himalayan States for the financial year 2021-22 (1st Rank-Mizoram,2nd Rank-Himachal Pradesh, 3rd Rank-Uttarakhand) and the SPARK Awards for the financial year 2022-23 (1st Rank-Gujarat, 2nd Rank-Kerala, 3rd Rank-Uttarakhand) and NER & Himalayan States for the financial year 2022-23 (1st Rank-Mizoram, 2nd Rank-Himachal Pradesh, 3rd Rank-Tripura) were also given away at the function.

'Compendium of 50 Case Studies of Urban Micro Enterprises' was launched at the function. U- Learn 2.0 (Urban Livelihood e-Learning and Resource Network) application, an e-learning initiative with the objective of building capacities of DAY-NULM was also launched. A short film on DAY-NULM was also screened at the function. The Live Musical Choreograph depicting the saga of Kudumbashree, penned by Shri. Karivellur Murali, Poet and sung by Ms. Pushpavathy Poypadathu was performed by Kudumbashree NHG members.

The National Workshop is jointly organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and Kudumbashree.The objective of the National Workshop is to provide a robust platform for cross learning, i.e., to help to know and understand the Best Practices of the States and Union Territories implementing NULM, including Kerala. The National Workshop provides an opportunity to understand each other's challenges, field-level realities and complexities associated with implementing poverty eradication programmes in urban areas in each state and union territory.

There were Technical Sessions on the topics such as Infrastructure Development - Building a Path to Prosperity, Fostering Inclusive Urban Livelihoods: Building Bridges for All, Empowering Livelihoods through Technology. Tomorrow, there will be Technical Sessions on the International Best Practices in Urban Poverty Reduction and Convergence for Inclusive Urban Livelihoods. Following that, the delegates will visit Guruvayoor Municipality, Kunnamkulam Municipality, Kochi Metro, Water Metro and Thrissur Corporation to learn the Best Practices of NULM in Kerala.

Ms. Anu Kumari, Executive Director (In-Charge), Kudumbashree welcomed the gathering. Shri Rahul Kapoor, Joint Secretary & Mission Director, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission & PM SVANidhi, Ms. Sarada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala, Dr Madhu Rani Teotia, Director, DAY- NULM, Ms. Shalini Pandey, Director, PM SVANidhi, Shri. M. Krishnadas, Chairman, Guruvayur Municipality and Chairman, Kerala Municipal Chairman's Chamber were present at the function. The two-day workshop is being attended by Mission Directors from the States where NULM is implemented and other officials. Theme stalls and product stalls are also set up as part of the programme.