The houses built by Kudumbashree Women Construction Groups for Scheduled Tribe Families of Aralam Panchayath of Kannur district of Kerala were handed over to the beneficiaries on 27 January 2022. The houses are built at Block 9, Aralam Farm, Kannur. Dr. V Sivadasan, MP, Kannur handed over the keys of the three houses built at Aralam Farm to the beneficiaries. Adv. Binoy Kurian, Vice President, District Panchayat, Kannur was the Chief Guest and Shri. K.P Rajesh, President, Aralam Grama Panchayath presided over the function. Smt. Lakshmi Amma, Smt. Bindu and Smt. Santha are the beneficiaries who received the keys of their new houses.

These are the first three houses that are being built for the homeless Scheduled Tribe families in Aralam Panchayath under the leadership of Kudumbashree Women Construction Groups. The houses were constructed jointly two Kudumbashree Women Construction groups in the district namely Jwala Construction Group and Kanal Construction Group. Smt. Cicily Joseph (President), Smt. Nisha Jayaprakash (Secretary), Smt. Bindu Shibin, Smt. Vimala Chandran, Smt. Kumari Subramanian, Smt. Nazeema Rasheed and Smt. Pathumma N.M are the members of the Jwala Construction Group. Whereas, Smt. Aswathy Babu (President), Smt. Pankajakshy K (Secretary), Smt. Safira, Smt. Leela K, Smt. Shaija, Smt. Sreeja, Smt. Sefiya, Smt. Sakeena and Smt. Shahina are the members of the Kanal Construction Group. The houses were completed under the full time supervision of Ms. Nithisha, an M Tech Graduate in Structural Engineering, who is a member of a Kudumbashree family.

Kudumbashree had took up the construction of the houses that are included in the project of Scheduled Tribes Department, Government of Kerala. The average area of the houses are 560 - 580 sqft. Within the next 6 months, construction of 10 more houses would be completed at Aralam. Rs 6 lakhs is the unit cost. Work order has been received for completing the construction of 20 houses. Through this, Kudumbashree aimed at saving the homeless ST families at Aralam from the exploitation of the middlemen in the construction sector. Though it was a tedious task, Kudumbashree was able to achieve the trust of the tribal people. Kudumbashree was able to equip the tribal people to ask questions back to such exploiters. Through such convergence, Kudumbashree Kannur District Mission had succeeded in arranging livelihood for the Women Construction Groups in the district.

Amidst the rise of Covid-19 cases in the state, an online awareness class series on Covid-19 has been started under the leadership of Kudumbashree associating with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and UNICEF, for Kudumbashree members and the general public. The first session of the series was held on 21 January 2022. Dr. Samuel Koshy, State President, IMA, Kerala State Branch inaugurated the programme. The topic dealt on the first of the series was 'From Delta till Omicron'. Dr. Soniya Suresh, Consultant Physician, VSM Hospital, Mavelikkara, Alappuzha was the faculty who dealt with the session.

The classes were live streamed through the Facebook pages and YouTube channels of KILA and Kudumbashree. The viewers may also ask their doubts and get it clarified from the experts themselves. Kudumbashree and IMA had also conducted online series during the second wave of the spread of covid-19 pandemic. Those previous classes are also available in these pages and channels. The next session of the series will be held on next friday.

It is expected that these awareness classes about covid, organized with best convergence and partnership would reach out to all people in Kerala and it would help them in the treatments of covid patients without getting panicked and will be of great help to all. The programme is ongoing receiving good responses from among the public.

Dr. Joseph Benaven delivered the welcome speech. Dr. A. V Jayakrishnan, Secretary, IMA, gave an introduction to the project. Dr. Joy Elamon, Director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) and Ms. Sindhu, State Programme Manager, Kudumbashree paid their felicitations. Dr. R. C Sreekumar, Chairman, IMA Committee in Medical Education was the moderator of the programme.

As part of the Covid Prevention Activities, Online Training is also being organized for Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Ward Committee Members are also being held under the leadership of Local Self Government Department, Health and Family Welfare Department, Women and Child Development Department, Kudumbashree and KILA.

Kudumbashree Mission has been publishing online poster series on the home treatment of covid-19. The posters are shared through the various social media handles of Kudumbashree. It deals with the points that should be taken care of during the home treatment of covid-19. The posters were shared upto the bottom level of the three tier system of Kudumbashree, all across the state. The Kudumbashree members and the public are sharing the posters and are taking the same to maximum number of people.

The topics dealt include notes to covid-19 patients, the points the care takers should note while wearing the masks, notes to the caretakers on cleaning their hands, the points caretakers should note if they have came in contact with the covid-19 patient, notes on home treatment of covid-19 patients, notes to the asymptomatic covid-19 patients, when should the covid-19 patients should seek medical help, when should the covid-19 patients put an end to their home quarantine.

Kudumbashree had also been preparing various posters in connection with the Covid Prevention Campaign and also as per the guidelines issued by the Executive Director to spread awareness to the ADSs and CDSs on the background of the Kudumbashree elections which are proceeding as the covid cases are rising in the state.

As per the new covid restrictions came into being in the state, the CDS elections were held at selected districts viz., Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod as per the covid restrictions, on 25 January 2022. The newly selected CDS Committee took over the charge in the districts on 26 January 2022 where the elections were held. The CDS Elections in the remaining 8 districts would be completed once the covid situations in the respective districts would improve. Earlier, Kudumbashree ADS Election in the state had been successfully completed maintaining the covid protocols.

The CDS Elections in the selected districts were held following the covid protocols. The Executive Director of Kudumbashree had issued the guidelines regarding the same on 15 January 2022. Earlier, the Government of Kerala had given approval to conduct the elections to the three tier system to identify the new office bearers, following the covid protocols.

The elections were conducted at open spaces and at halls that had sufficient air circulation. It was also ensured that the social distancing was maintained at the areas where the elections were conducted. All General Body members wore N95 masks or double surgical masks during the elections. It was also ensured that sanitizers were used during regular intervals. Also, sanitizers were made available at the areas where the elections were held & necessary arrangements were made for washing the hands with soap and water.

To avoid crowds at the CDS elections, ADS office bearers from 5 wards each attended the elections at a time and they selected the CDS Office Bearers. For this, special time slots were given to each ward. Covid protocol was also ensured at the NHG level elections and the ADS Elections which were held across the state during 7-13 January 2022 and 16-21 January 2022, respectively.

Kudumbashree ADS-CDS Elections will be held following the covid protocols. The Executive Director of Kudumbashree has issued the guidelines regarding the same on 15 January 2022. The ADS elections are now being held following the covid protocols, Also, the CDS elections that is proposed to be held on 25 January 2022 across the state would be conducted following the covid protocols. Earlier, the Government of Kerala had given approval to conduct the elections to the three tier system to identify the new office bearers, following the covid protocols.

The Executive Director had issued the special guidelines regarding the elections, as the covid cases are rising in the state. As per this, the covid positive ADS, CDS, General Body members may get the help of a representative from their respective NHGs to cast their votes. They may submit an affidavit entrusting a representative to cast their votes to the respective Polling Officer through WhatsApp or mail. During the time of election, the representative may call the covid positive member in the presence of the Polling Officer and ensure to whom their vote goes to. If the covid affected member wishes to contest in the election, that should be specially noted in the affidavit.

The election should be conducted either in a hall that has sufficient air circulation or at an open space. It should be ensured that the social distancing is maintained at the areas where the elections are being conducted. All General Body members should wear N95 mask or double surgical masks. Sanitizer should be used during regular intervals. The sanitizers should be made available at the areas where the elections are being held or necessary arrangements should be made for washing the hands with soap and water. To avoid crowds at the CDS elections, ADS office bearers from 5 wards each would attend the elections at a time and they would select the CDS Office Bearers. For this, special time slots has been given to each ward. Covid protocol was ensured at the NHG level elections held across the state during 7-13 January 2022.