Kudumbashree
Kudumbashree-State Poverty Alleviation Mission is an innovative system established by the State Local Self-Government Department in 1998 with the aim of poverty alleviation. This mission, which has taken poverty alleviation as its main task, implements its work program through a community-based organizational system formed under the leadership of local self-government institutions. Kudumbashree's work has been strengthened and expanded and has become a strong organizational system for women to realize the goals of economic, social and women's empowerment.
Organizational System
The basic element of the organizational system is the neighborhood groups consisting of 10 to 20 members, each of whom is a woman who has completed the age of 18 from each family in the area. These neighborhood groups are federated as Area Development Societies (ADS) at the ward level and as Community Development Societies (CDS) at the panchayat level. The office bearers of such organizations operating at all three levels are democratically elected women. The members of the local self-government institutions, as the patrons of the ADS and the local self-government institution chairman/Katumbashree CDS. As the chairman of the evaluation committee, lead this community-based organization. More than 43 lakh economically backward families are members of Kudumbashree. Along with the mainstream neighborhood groups, special neighborhood groups have also been formed for families facing physical, mental and intellectual challenges, transgender people and the elderly.
Major Projects
Kudumbashree Micro Finance:- Neighborhood group members included in the Kudumbashree organizational system collect deposits and provide them as internal loans to the members.
Linkage Banking:- Neighborhood groups are provided with the necessary amount through the Bank Linkage Program in a way that they can convert small savings into capital investment and encourage neighborhood groups to engage in small enterprises
Micro Enterprises:- Kudumbashree aims to create self-employment opportunities for women through micro enterprises. The existing schemes are RME/Yuvashree. Interest subsidy and many other financial assistance are provided to micro enterprises.
Amrutham Food Supplement:- Amrutham Food Supplement is a THRS scheme implemented by the Social Justice Department to address malnutrition and provide additional nutrition to children aged 6 months to 3 years in the state. As part of this, several units consisting of six to 10 entrepreneurs under Kudumbashree produce fortified Amrutham Nutrimix and distribute it through Anganwadis.
Santhwanam:- Santhwanam is an imaginative scheme of Kudumbashree in the field of health. The 'Santwanam' program aims to provide timely check-ups for diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes that arise as a part of a changing lifestyle by trained Santwanam volunteers visiting homes.
Harsham:- Harsham Geriatric Care Project is an innovative project implemented by providing the services of trained executives for elderly care in the health sector. The project envisages the formation of enterprise groups that will provide various services required by the elderly generation.
Harithakarmasena:- Harithakarmasena is a project that implements waste management activities at the local self-government level through employment enterprise groups. This project is implemented through local self-government institutions in collaboration with Kudumbashree Mission, Haritha Keralam Mission and Suchitha Mission.
Pratyasha:- Pratyasha is a scheme to start micro-enterprises for marginalized sections of the society, such as single mothers, transgenders, mentally challenged children/their mothers, bedridden patients/their guardians, elderly widows, etc.
Arise:- As part of finding ways to provide income to families who have lost their livelihood due to the floods in the state, Kudumbashree has launched the Arise program to provide free self-employment training in 10 areas including plumbing, electronics repairing, electrical work, agriculture-related work (coconut climbing/forest cutting), laundry & ironing, sales, housekeeping, day-care, housemaid, and data entry.