Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission has organized 'Uyare' Campaign for the Auxiliary Group Members in the district to lead them to livelihood sectors. The new generation of the district have wholeheartedly welcomed the campaign. The campaign aimed at strengthening the Auxiliary Groups. Kudumbashree Wayanad District team has also started skill training programme to lead the Auxiliary Group members to livelihood sectors. 

As the first step of the campaign meetings of Auxiliary group members were organized at the CDSs in the district and classes were conducted on various income generating activities and livelihood opportunities. Through this, the details of those interested in self-employment and income-based employment were collected. Following this, the first phase of skill training program has been initiated for all Auxiliary group members.

The three-day skill training is organized in association with ASAP. Tata Power is  providing the needed technical assistance. Shri. O.R. Kelu, MLA inaugurated the training programme  held at Skill Park, Government College, Mananthavady, Wayanad.
66 members from various Auxiliary groups of the district are participating in the training. Classes are given on various subjects like Goal Setting and SWOT Analysis, Communication Skills, Life Skills and Digital Skills.

Shri. Justin Baby, President, Mananthavady Block Panchayath presided over the function. Shri. H.B. Pradeep Master, President, Edavaka Grama Panchayath delivered the keynote address. Shri. P.K. Balasubramanian, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission, Shri. Vasu Pradeep, Assistant District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission, Shri. Sreeranj, District Programme Manager, ASAP, Ms. Priya Veerendrakumar, Chairperson, Edavaka CDS and Shri. K.K. Sajeevan, In-Charge, Tata Power also participated in the function.
As part of the campaign, a job fair has also been planned by Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission for the Auxiliary Group members.

Kudumbashree is inviting logo and tagline for the Saras Mela, the national level product marketing fair, which is proposed to be held under the leadership of Kudumbashree, at Kottayam during the second week of December 2022. The selected entries will be given prizes.

The logo and tagline of the Saras Mela, held in the background of Kudumbashree's 25th Anniversary Celebrations, should be in harmony with the district's unique cultural identity, community of women entrepreneurs and regional identity.  The prepared logo and tagline can be sent to the e-mail address, sarasmelakottayam@gmail.com. The last date for submitting the entries is 20 October 2022. For more details, contact - 0481 2302049, 9400550107.

The Saras Fairs are organized jointly by the Central- State Governments as part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), where the products of the entrepreneurs across the country is brought together for marketing. In addition to that 'India Food Court' would also be arranged as part of the Fair, where the cuisines from various states would be available.

Balasabha members from Kasaragod district of Kerala cultivated Marigold flowers, adding more colour to their Mahanavami Celebrations. The Balasabha members of Ward 12 of Chemmanad Panchayath of Kasaragod district are the ones who cultivated the Marigold flowers in 5 cents of barren land.  

From the 5 cents field, the Balasabha members harvested 38 kg of Marigold flowers.18 Balasabha members who belong to 'Pularvela' and 'Nilav' Balasabha Groups are the ones who took the responsibility of the cultivation of flowers and succeeded in cultivating the same. Kudumbashree ADS Office bearers were also with them to extend all kinds of instructions. The harvested flowers were also sold during the Mahanavami celebrations at a rate of Rs 80 per kg. They have decided to use this amount for the various activities of the Balasabha.

Ms. Sufaija Aboobacker, President, Chemmanad Grama Panchayath inaugurated the harvest. Shri. Prakashan Palai, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Kasaragod District Mission received the first sale. Balasabha members, Ms. Mumtaz, CDS Chairperson, Shri. Rajan Poinachi, Balasabha Resource Person and Panchayath Member, CDS and ADS office bearers were also present at the function.

Premium Basket is the Kudumbashree outlet opened by Kudumbashree in association with Kochi Metro at SN Metro Station to market premium products of Kudumbashree enterprises and vegetables of Kudumbashree JLGs. Shri. M.B. Rajesh, Minister, Local Self Government Department and Excise Department, Government of Kerala inaugurated the 'Premium Basket' outlet on 11 October 2022. 

Metro has allotted a space of 600 square feet at SN metro station for a monthly rent of Rs.18,000. Kudumbashree has designed the space as a modern style outlet and the construction work has been carried out by Nirmithi Kendra, a company based at Kakkanad of Ernakulam district, with an investment of Rs.14 lakhs. Premium products of Kudumbashree Micro Enterprises from Ernakulam district and other districts and the vegetables and cut vegetables of JLGs will be available in the 'Premium Basket'. Tea, coffee, snacks and cool drinks will also be available through the Kudumbashree Premium Basket.

Kudumbashree Premium Basket is implemented in an enterprise model. Kudumbashree Premium Basket is managed by a group of 3 people selected from nearby areas. The Kudumbashree Premium Basket will operate as per the agreement between the enterprise group and Kudumbashree District Mission.

Shri. K. Babu, MLA, Thripunithura Constituency, Ms. Rama Santhosh, Chairperson, Thripunithura Municipality, Shri. Loknath Behra, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Shri. Jafar Malik,  Executive Director, Kudumbashree, Shri. Vishnu Raj, Sub Collector, Fort Kochi, Dr. Myna Umaiban, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree and Ms. Preethi M.B,  District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission participated in the opening ceremony.

Kudumbashree has arranged special opportunity to buy special products at Illikkal Kallu, one of the important tourist destinations in Kottayam district of Kerala. This opportunity was opened through 'Illikkal Kallu Special Trade Fair', a traditional product marketing fair jointly organized by Kudumbashree Kottayam District Mission, Moonnilavu Gram Panchayat and Kudumbashree CDS from 1 to 5 October 2022.

The products made by the traditional tribes of Moonnilavu panchayat and the products of 24 Kudumbashree units of Erattupetta block were brought for sale in the fair. There was a great demand for tribal products in the trade fair like baskets, winnowing sieves, mats, brooms, handicrafts made of coconut shells, medicinal arrowroot powders, honey and for products like umbrellas, curry powders, sweets, vinegar, coconut oil, vegetables, fruits, yam, taro, ginger and tapioca. They were able to make a sales of Rs. 62,360 within five days.

Kudumbashree has conducted Anti Drug Awareness Programmes across the state on 9 October 2022. Kudumbashree is thereby becoming part of the state government's efforts to build public resistance against the widespread use of drugs among the youth. The activities were planned and implemented by Kudumbashree centered around NHGs, Auxiliary groups and Balasabhas.

Special meetings have been called to create awareness among NHGs and Auxiliary groups. These activities were carried out in about three lakh NHGs and about 19,000 Auxiliary groups in the state. During these meetings, an awareness note was read and discussions were held based on it and anti-drug pledge was recited in these meetings, which included several topics such as the dangers of drug use, measures that can be taken to prevent drug use, precautions to be taken to save the youth from drug addiction and treatment facilities.

Drug awareness programmes were organized in the past few days involving the Kudumbashree Balasabha members in all the CDSs of the state. A marathon in which the Balasabha members participated, a signature tree displaying their anti-drug ideas, recitation of anti-drug pledge, and artistic competitions including football matches were organized in each district.

Kudumbashree has won national awards for its outstanding convergence activities under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme, which aims to provide housing to all the homeless in urban areas. Kudumbashree is the nodal agency of PMAY project in Kerala.

Kudumbashree has won two state level awards of PMAY (Urban) Awards for 2021 constituted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Also, based on the best performance showcased in the specified 150 days, Mattannur Municipality also won third place in the municipal level awards at the national level. In Kerala, PMAY (Urban) project is implemented in convergence with LIFE housing project.

Kudumbashree has won the Special Award for the Best Convergence Model with projects including livelihood projects and the Award for the Best Community Oriented Project under the Scheme at the state level. The Special Convergence Model Award is for the effective convergence activities including the LIFE Project, Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) implemented by Kudumbashree in urban areas and the various schemes of the respective Urban Local Bodies.

Kudumbashree provides better employment and livelihood opportunities through convergence by providing them with free job skill training, self-employment support etc. along with making the PMAY (U) beneficiary families part of Kudumbashree NHGs. Free gas connection is also provided as part of the central scheme. By making it a part of the Ayyankali Employment Guarantee Scheme, the beneficiary also gets an additional financial assistance of Rs. 27,990 for housing. Apart from this, Kudumbashree is also making interventions such as including all the beneficiaries who have completed construction of houses till 2021 in housing insurance, providing CSR assistance to the needy beneficiaries and providing housing construction materials at low cost were also considered in the award determination.

Also, Kerala is the state that provides the maximum assistance through this scheme in the country. In addition to Rs. 1.50 lakhs provided by the Central Government, the State Government and Municipal Corporations also provide Rs. 2.50 lakhs to the beneficiary. Also no beneficiary share is charged after converging with the LIFE Mission.

Excellence in the project execution, excellent performance in the 150-day challenge, commencement of construction of all approved houses and the strict adherence to Management Information System (MIS) made Mattannur Municipality eligible for the award. The Awards will be presented to the winners by Shri. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister during the Indian Urban Housing Conclave proposed to be held in Rajkot, Gujarat from 17 to 19 October 2022.

A two-day workshop was jointly organized by Kudumbashree and KILA as part of the idea generation based on the theme 'Susthiram' - Localization of Sustainable Development Goals through Kudumbashree at Grand Chaithram Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram on 30 September 2022 and 1 October 2022. The main objective of localization is to provide all-round development in the lives of the bottom level of the society. The activities related to this will be developed by focusing on the Kudumbashree NHGs. 

Through the localization of the sustainable development goals, it is intended to achieve these through the Kudumbashree system by focusing the Sustainable Development Goals on ten different themes. The ten themes included in the Sustainable Development Goals are poverty-free and high-livelihood rural-urban areas, healthy, child-friendly, water-rich rural-urban areas, clean and green rural-urban areas, self-sufficient and well-equipped rural-urban areas, socially secure rural-urban areas, good governance, gender-equitable development, and quality education. In this regard, the emphasis is on increasing the efficiency of the NHG system in such a way that the bottom level NHGs achieve the goals set in this regard.  

A preliminary report was prepared after discussing various ideas related to setting sustainable development goals and the changes to be made in the Kudumbashree organizational system, working methods and mission system for this purpose.

Shri. S.M. Vijayanand, Former Chief Secretary, Ms. Sarada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self-Government Department, Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree, Dr. Joy Elamon, Director General, KILA, Shri. N. Jagajeevan, Chief Executive Officer, Grameena Patana Kendram, Shri. K.N. Vimal Kumar, Shri. C. Nandakumar, Members of Planning Board State Resource Group and Shri. Nishad, State Programme Manager, Kudumbashree spoke in the Workshop.

Shri. Vipin Vilfred and Ms. Vidya Nair State Assistant Programme Managers gave leadership to the workshop. Ms. Krishnapriya, Chief Finance Officer, Kudumbashree welcomed the gathering. Shri. Suresh Kumar, Accounts Officer, Programme Officers of Kudumbashree, State Programme Managers and Training Group members participated in the workshop. Dr. Myna Umaiban, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree delivered the vote of thanks.

Eriyad Panchayat CDS of Thrissur district of Kerala has started planning and implementing various activities like pension, health insurance, identity card, health and counseling camps for the elderly people only. Eriyad is one of the ten CDSs in Kerala which is being turned into elderly friendly CDSs as part of the Vayomaithri project run by Kudumbashree with the aim of protecting and uplifting the elderly. As a part of this, programmes have been planned for the welfare of the elderly in the panchayath.

The Vayomaithri project is being implemented as part of Kudumbashree's Relationship Kerala Programme for the elderly, differently-abled, transgender and others who deserve special attention and care. Eriyad is the panchayath with the largest number of elderly NHGs in Thrissur district. The target is to convert Eriyad into an elderly friendly CDS in the next three years. District Mission will provide financial assistance of Rs.25,000 to 50 elderly NHGs in the panchayath to start self-employment enterprises for livelihood. Also, elderly friendly spaces are also being prepared at the ward levels with the help of the panchayath.

802 people are members of 70 elderly NHGs in the panchayath. Ward-level elderly meetings were also held including them. Shri. Nirmal A.C, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission did the district level inauguration of the programme held at Eriyad. Shri. K.P. Rajan, President, Eriyad Panchayath presided over the function. Shri. Marshal C. Radhakrishnan, Technical Assistant, Social Justice Department led the seminar on the topic of elderly welfare services and legal protection. Ms. Jameela Aboobacker, Chairperson, Eriyad CDS, Ms. Sindhu V, State Programme Manager, Kudumbashree, Shri. Vijayakrishnan, District Programme Manager, Kudumbashree CDS members and public representatives participated in the function. Art programmes for the elderly were also held as part of the ceremony.

Kudumbashree units make sales of Rs. 10.25 lakhs through the food courts set up in connection with the India South Africa Twenty 20 held at Green Field Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on 28 September 2022. This was achieved by distributing food to the cricket lovers who came to watch the match as well as the officials, ground staff, police personnel and security personnel. According to the order received, food was given to 3000 people and in addition to this food was served to 5000 people as well.

Twelve food counters of Kudumbashree units were been set up near the stadium's terrace pavilion. The Kudumbashree stall provided delicious food and drinks at affordable prices to the spectators who stood in queue for hours outside the stadium to get inside before the match started. Spectators flocked to the stalls before and after the match, but it was also remarkable that the food distribution was done in speedy manner and the crowd was avoided. The food distribution lasted until midnight. Hundreds of people including college students also came to buy the parcel.

Vigneshwara, Sreepadam, Sreeshailam, Samjees, Shruti, Samudra, Pratheeksha, Jiyas and Krishna Catering units functioning under Kudumbashree in Thiruvananthapuram district and two Cafeshree units have prepared food for the sports lovers who came to the watch the cricket match. Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission under the supervision of the Kudumbashree State Mission was in charge of the activities related to food distribution at the stadium.

Kudumbashree had got the opportunity to distribute food on the occasion of organizing a cricket match at the Green Field Stadium, before as well. Kudumbashree got the opportunity to distribute food this year too because of the ability to work better without complaints.