Kudumbashree Mission will give financial assistance worth Rs. 1.83 Crore to the beneficiaries of Kerala Chicken. The amount would be given as Community Investment Fund for the beneficiaries. 

In the first phase, Kudumbashree had identified 438 units all over the state which had basic infrastructure facilities to rear the chicken. Out of these, 183 units would get Rs. 1 Lakh each as loan. An amount of Rs 1.83 Crore would be distributed altogether. The other units would get Community Investment Fund through Community Development Societies (CDS). It is notable that the amount is given at an interest rate of 4% and it needs to be repaid within one year time only.

The programme envisages to serve good quality, poisonous free broiler chicken in Kerala, which would be of help in finding a livelihood for the Kudumbashree women as well. Two entrepreneurs from Thiruvananthapuram had made a record by gaining Rs 48,000 each from Kerala Chicken model of Chicken rearing. Their success story had attracted many other women to this sector.

 It is also planned to launch  Kudumbashree Hatchery units and retail outlets in all districts across Kerala. Converging with the Animal Husbandry Department, by excluding the middle men, the branding of the Kerala chicken would be done, that would be of help to producers and to consumers as well.

Kudumbashree Bazaar, the E-commerce portal to sell out the Kudumbashree products was launched by Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala at Kanakakkunnu Palace, Thiruvananthapuram on 21 February 2018. The credibility of the products produced by the micro entrepreneurs of Kudumbashree Mission is the success of Kudumbashree Bazaar. Minister said.

In the first phase, different products of 250 micro entrepreneurs are ready for sale. Quality products from Kudumbashree need to be timely delivered to the customers all over the world and thereby the acceptance for the Kudumbashree products could be increased. No compromise should be done regarding the quality of the products. The acceptance for Kudumbashree products is achieved by maintaining the quality. If we succeed to gain that acceptance globally, more micro entrepreneurs would be therefore be able to enter into this sector. By launching Kudumbashree super markets, the marketing network would be more strengthened. He added.

Kudumbashree has got a strong system for marketing by launching Kudumbashree E-commerce portal, said Shri. K. Muraleedharan, MLA who presided over the function. By launching the website the marketing of Kudumbashree products had attained a better level and its planned to start warehouses in all districts to store the products for sale in the second phase. Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission said.

The contract signed between Indian Postal Service and Kudumbashree Mission regarding the delivery of the Kudumbashree products was exchanged by Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission and Shri. M. Mohandas, Senior Superintendent, Thiruvananthapuram Post office North Division Zonal Office. The contract signed regarding the extension of technical support for launching Kudumbashree Community Radio Service was exchanged between Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission and Smt. Usha Mangalangy, Assistant General Manager, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited. Training was given to the micro entrepreneurs regarding the packing of products and website. The training of Postal department was also conducted for the micro entrepreneurs.

Minister felicitated Shri. Hari Shambhu Dev, CEO, Street Bell Pvt Ltd and Smt. Arunima, Manager, Operations, who offered the technical support for Kudumbashreebazaar.com. Minister gave away the trophy and Visa to the DDUGKY students. Shri.Prathin C.T, Shri. K. Appu and Vishnu.P, who got international placement at Mac Donalds, Abu Dhabi through Edu jobs consultancy, Vadakara, Kozhikode.

Shri. Mohandas IPS, Shri Pramod K.V, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree Mission, Smt. Niranjana .N.S, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree Mission and Shri. Ajith Chacko, Chief Operating Officer, NRLM also attended the function.

Kudumbashree Mission is to make a path breaking gesture by launching 'www.kudumbashreebazaar.com'. From now onwards, through this e-portal, products made by the Kudumbashree women could be bought at ease. It is for improving the market and reach of the Kudumbashree products among the common people that the e-portal is launched.

There are about 15,000 Micro Enterprises in the state. The Kudumbashree women are producing different type of curry powders, flour, masala powders, different types of pickles, jams, squashes, coconut oil, handicrafts, cosmetics, toiletries, readymade garments etc. Out of these the best 200 types which would excel in packing and labelling would be available for sale through the e-portal in the first phase. As the demand for the products increases, more products would be made available online for sale. Through this the Kudumbashree women would be able to make more income of their own.

The details of the products including the photo, name of the unit, phone number which are ready for sale are made available in the website. The customers may visit the website and select the products they wish to buy. When the consumer confirms one item, the concerned Micro Entrepreneurs, District Programme Managers and the State Mission Manager would receive a message. It is the responsibility of the Entrepreneur to send the product through post on receiving the order. Kudumbashree and Postal department had already signed a contract regarding this. Once the Kudumbashree super markets would be started in all districts, the supervision and the responsibility of the online portal would be handed over to them. The technical support for launching the e-portal was facilitated by Start Up Mission.

Ruchi Vandi, the mobile homely food service keep on attracting the food lovers of Wayanad District. The Ruchi Vandi would reach the Kottakkunnu ground at Batheri daily by 4 PM in the evening to serve the home made ethinic foods to the food lovers in the place. The people would have always been eagerly waiting for the Ruch Vandi to have their favourite food items.

Ruchi Vandi was started by Smt. Priya and Smt. Soumya, members of Manichira Deepam Kudumbashree unit under the NULM scheme. They had altered a goods auto into 'Ruchi Vandi'. The Ruch Vandi serves ethinic food items like Kappa-Botti, Pidi- Kozhi, Appam-Beef, Puttu Biriyani, Kothu pathiri etc.Ruchi Vandi also sells snack items like Meenkaay, Kozhi Ada, Chicken Samosa, Pakkavada, Ilayada etc prepared by other Kudumbashree units as well.

The Ruchi Vandi stands out unique and sets a role model to the similar food services in waste management. They dispose them at the waste plant at Shreyas Batheri. The Ruchi Vandi was started investing an amount of Rs. 2 lakhs. Ruchi Vandi is getting an income of Rs 12,000 per day. They are also planning to extend their business by starting a new snack shop. It is also planned to launch an online food delivery system as well. Kudumbashree District Mission is extending their full support to the initiative. The families of these micro entrepreneurs are also involved into the sale and with their sheer confidence in themselves they busy creating history.

Sparsham Campaign, which aims at strengthening the activities of Kudumbashree Mission at urban areas and to help reach the advantages of the various programmes implemented by Kudumbashree to the real beneficiaries was launched by Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala at Animation Centre, Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram on 16 February 2018. The campaign would be held from 20 February 2018- 19 March 2018. For eradicating the urban areas, Kudumbashree and Local Self Government Departments should work hand in hand. Minister said.

The Pradhan Manthri Awas Yojana (Urban)[ PMAY (U)] programme under Central- State Ministries which works with the mission of achieving 'Housing for All' and National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) programme which enable the urban poor to find a livelihood of their own are implemented through Kudumbashree Mission. The campaign envisages to reach the advantages of these programmes to the real beneficiaries to the maximum. It is planned to spend Rs 10,000 crores in constructing the houses for the needy in the next financial year. Government will give Rs 4 lakh to the urban homeless who have plots of their own. There are 7,38,704 families dwelling in the urban areas. Even now, around 1 lakh urban poor are out of those NHGs. The campaign is being organised for including such urban poor to the NHGs. Minister added.

The Award for the Best CDS was bagged by Chavakkad CDS. Best ULB in formation of new NHG was bagged by Kattapana ULB. Anugraha ( Neyyatinkara ) was selected as the best performing NHG. Oruma (Chavakkad) and Pournami (Sulthan Bathery) was selected as the second best NHGs in the state. The awards for the best performing banks in CLSS under PMAY was bagged by Axis Bank and Kerala Grameen Bank. Shri. Umesh Arora, Executive Vice President, Axis Bank and Shri. P. Janardhanan, General Manager, Kerala Grameen Bank received the awards from the Minister. Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust ( HLFPPT) and Jeevaneeyam Ayurvedic Research Centre bagged the awards for the best performing Skill Training Provider and Shri. Vimal Ravi and Dr. Reshmi Pramod received the awards from the Minister respectively. The ID cards for the Urban Service team was also issued by the Minister.

Adv. Rajendra Babu, Mayor, Kollam released the Urban Directory and the Circular on Sparsham Campaign by giving it to Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission. Shri. Sabu. K. Thomas, Secretary, Chairman's Chamber presided over the function. Shri. K Muraleedharan, Ward Councillor, Smt. Heeba, Chairperson, Neyyatinkara ULB, Shri. Pramod K.V, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, Shri. Binu Francis, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, Chairpersons of ULBs, Secretaries, Kudumbashree CDS Chairpersons, NULM City Mission Managers and PMAY City Cell Managers also attended the programme.

The prizes for the winners of 'Kudumbashree Oru Nerchithram’ Photography Competition 2017 was distributed by Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala at the function held at Animation Centre, Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram on 16 February 2018. Shri.G.Shivaprasad, Photographer, Mathrubhumi Kottayam unit had bagged the first prize. The beauty of the unity of Kudumbashree women was well captured in Sivaprasad's click. The Award prize, Rs 20,000 and certificate was given to him.

Shri.Sudharmadas, Photographer, KeralaKaumudi Kochi unit came second and Shri. Shaju. V. Karat from Malappuram came in the third place. The second prize and third prize was Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 respectively. Sudharmadas captured the reflection of the hardwork of Kudumbashree women creatively. Photograph of a Kudumbashree woman digging well for drinking water with the caption 'Onto the depths for livelihood' made Shaju's photograph selected in the competition. The certificates and the award money were given to them.

The photographs submitted by Smt. Beena Paul, Smt. Nithya Sibin, Shri. Sajan. V. Nambiar, Shri. K. Surendran, Shri. Arun Kumar. C, Shri. C.R Gireesh Kumar, Shri. Printo Popz, Shri. Ashwin. P, Shri. Sunil Punarka and Shri. Saju Naduvil were selected for consolation prizes. Rs 1000 each and certificates were distributed to each of them as well.

Shri. Alagappan, renowned cinematographer was the Jury Chairman who selected the winners. Shri. Pramod, Photographer, Deshabhimani, Smt.Nisha. Director, Kudumbashree Mission and Smt. Jayanthi Narendranath, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree Mission were the other Jury members.

Kudumbashree Mission which envisions at eradicating poverty through women in Kerala had successfully completed 19 revolutionary years, conducted the photography competition for motivating the aspiring photographers and to propagate the activities of Kudumbashree Mission through photographs. The contestants were directed to submit photographs that reflect the various activities of Kudumbashree Mission. The competition was conducted from 1 November 2017- 15 December 2017.

Apart from the awards, free subscription of Kudumbashree Magazine will be given to selected 50 people. More details of the competition is published in the website www.kudumbashree.org

State Level Buds Fest 2018 held at JDT Islam Orphanage, Vellimadukunnu, Kozhikode from 12-13 February 2018 was concluded creating mesmerizing memories. Ernakulam District came first by securing 31 points. Kannur and Kozhikode  came in second and third places by securing 23 & 17 points respectively. The valedictory function was inaugurated by Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, LSGD, Government of Kerala. He said that 200 buds institutions will be opened in the district and the ratio of the students to teachers would be 8 is to 1.

250 students from different districts across Kerala participated in 12 art competitions. As part of the fest, an  exhibition cum sale of the handicraft products made by the Buds School students was arranged near the festival premises. Chains, bangles, soap, soap powder, phenyl etc and other fancy items made by them were for sale.

The Buds Fest was inaugurated by Shri. Thottathil Raveendran, Mayor, Kozhikode Corporation on 12 February 2018.  Shri. A. Pradeep Kumar, MLA was the cheif guest of the function.

Shri. Babu Parassery, President, District Panchayath, Smt. Amrida G.S. Programme Officer, Kudumbashree State Mission, Smt. P.C Kavitha, District Mission Coordinator, Kozhikode, Smt. Hemalatha C.K, District Mission Coordinator, Malappuram, Shri.K. V. Jyothish, District Mission Coordinator,  Thrissur, Shri. VIinod Kovoor, Cine actor and  Shri. C.P Kunjimuhammed, President, JDT Islamic Educational Institutions attended the valedictory function.