Kudumbashree NHG members from Kannur has launched a distribution network to strengthen the marketing of Kudumbashree products. This marketing team is called as 'She Distribution Network' and it has the objective of providing regular distribution of Kudumbashree products to all the marketing centres including super markets in the government and private sectors of Kannur district. Mr. Binoy Kurian, Vice President, District Panchayath inaugurated the 'She Distribution Network' in a function held at Keezhathur, Kannur on 19 July 2022.

Ms. Prasilla. P (President), Ms. Divya. K (Secretary) Ms. Vichithra. V, Ms. Vinci. V, Ms. Rajitha. C and Ms. Dhanya P. K from Ward 16 of Vengad CDS are members of the 'She Distribution Network' team. Their activities will be concentrated in Edakkad, Thalassery, Kuthuparamba, Panoor, Peravoor and Iritty blocks.

The District Panchayath has provided the vehicle facility for the 'She Distribution Network' team to collect the products from the entrepreneurs and bring them to the marketing centers and the ward ADS has provided the building for the storage centre. They will also distribute the products to Home Shop owners who deliver Kudumbashree products to households. This activity, which is being conducted in Kannur district for the first time in the state on an experimental basis, will be extended to other districts as well, depending on its success.

Kudumbashree Kasaragod District Mission team is creating a silent revolution in the agriculture sector of Kasaragod district by cultivating vegetables and fruits as well as medicinal herbs and spices using hi-tech farming methods, through an innovative project called KANI (Kudumbashree for Agriculture New Intervention). The aim of KANI Project is to ensure the availability of non-toxic fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and spices in Kasaragod district through hi-tech farming and thereby improve the livelihood of Kudumbashree members. It will also generate income by promoting farm tourism.

There are three sub projects under KANI Project namely, Vegetable Walk, Fruit Garden and Medicinal Herb-Spices Garden. The farming is done at the CDS level through Kudumbashree farming groups. KANI Project was started in Kasaragod district in 2021. The Vegetable Walk was organized then in a competitive manner with specific conditions. During the first year, focus was mainly on vegetable cultivation, whereas, fruits, medicinal herbs and spices are included in the project, this time.

As part of the Vegetable Walk, the cultivation is done as a single plot (minimum one crop per acre) on 3 to 15 acres of land. Cultivation will be done on at least one acre as part of Fruit Garden and on at least 50 cents as part of Medicinal Herb-Spices Garden. By March 2023, Model Farming Areas will also be established in these three areas as part of the project.

23 CDSs did cultivation as part of the Vegetable Walk and achieved a sales of Rs. 8.26 crore during the financial year 2021-22. Presently 9 CDSs are part of Fruit Garden and 15 CDS are part of Medicinal Herb-Spices Garden. A profit of Rs. 25 lakhs has been made during the last Ramzan season by cultivating 128 tons of watermelons on 25 acres as part of the Fruit Garden. Many crops like dragon fruit, rambutan, potato, sweet basil, aloe vera and cloves are being cultivated as part of the project. Kudumbashree Kasaragod District Mission team has indeed set a new model through 'KANI' Project.

Kudumbashree NHG member Shylamma's 'Heaven' Hair Saloon has become the talk of the town. It is common for women to run hair salons and beauty parlors for women. But Shylamma has become a star by providing hairstyles and haircuts for men including trendy styles for the youth.

The 'Heaven' Hair Salon is started in Kainakary Panchayath of Champakulam block in Alappuzha district of Kerala. Shylamma started her enterprise as part of the of the Rebuild Kerala Initiative Entrepreneurship Development Programme. Shylamma who is working as an Anganawadi helper had completed Beautician Course. So when she got to know about the opportunity to start an enterprise through Kudumbashree's RKIEDP scheme, she didn't had to think twice about what it should be. So on 20 March 2022, Shylamma started her salon next to her own house at Cherukayalchira in Kuttamangalam of Kainakary.

Taking YouTube as her guru and adopting the latest hairstyle trends, Shylamma now offers bridal care, nail art, facials and massage treatments etc. through her enterprise.

Nanchiyamma, who bagged the title of the Best Female Playback Singer in the 68th National Film Awards has indeed elevated Kudumbashree to greater heights! Nanchiyamma is the member of Kavinaya NHG and the health volunteer of Nakupathipiriv Ooru Samithi of Attappady. Nanchiyamma won the National Award for the song- 'Kalakatha Sandana Meram' of the film 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum', which is full of tribal rhythms.

Kudumbashree & Local Self Government Institutions should work in tandem to strengthen the Local Financial Social Development and to deliver the rights and benefits to the poorest of the poor, said Shri. S.M. Vijayanand IAS (Rtd), Former Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala. He inaugurated the webinar 'Kudumbashree and Local Self-Government Institutions' organized under the auspices of Kudumbashree on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of People's Planning Campaign, on 22 July 2022.

"In the Kudumbashree system, priority is given to the poor. It is necessary to find them and bring them to the mainstream of society by providing them with all the rights and benefits they deserve and reduce the gap with others. The health-education- income generation activity volunteers in the NHGs should be strengthened and their participation should be ensured in the design of the Action Plan of local bodies. The participation of Kudumbashree in health, education, agriculture and employment sectors could be increased partnering with local institutions and the protection of the elderly can be ensured by creating such associations. Implementation of women component projects is also important. The quality of Employment Guarantee Scheme should be increased and the emphasis should be give to the creation of sustainable assets. The greatest strength and achievement of Kudumbashree is the acceptance it has received at the national and international levels. Social, financial and physical capital are essential elements to strengthen this three-tier system. Human resource is yet another capital. Along with this, environmental awareness and civic awareness should also be maintained." He also added that by strengthening the power of local bodies and Kudumbashree, they should advance more strongly in the process of local economic and social development.

Dr. Joy Elamon, Director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) presided over the function. Shri. Nishad C.C, State Program Manager, Kudumbashree delivered the welcome speech and Dr. Myna Umaiban, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree extended the vote of thanks.

Apply now to get free job skills training in courses such as Software Developer, Medical Records Assistant, Field Engineer, Product Design Engineer etc. The skill training will be extended through the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameena Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Yuvakeralam projects being implemented by Kudumbashree in Kerala.

DDU-GKY is the project jointly being implemented by the Central and State Governments for the youth of poor families in rural areas. Yuvakeralam is the project being implemented by the State Government through Kudumbashree, as part of the Rebuild Kerala Initiative aimed at rebuilding the post-flood Kerala. Urban youth as well as rural youth can become part of this project.

Anyone between 18 and 35 years of age can avail the skill training. Age relaxation upto 45 years is applicable for women, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), transgenders, persons with disabilities, victims of human trafficking and HIV infected persons. Training, study materials and uniform will be provided completely free of cost. Accommodation and food are provided free of cost for the residential courses.

To know the complete details including available courses, course duration, eligibility, training agencies, starting date of courses, name and contact number of course mobilizer and District Programme Managers, visit: www.kudumbashree.org/courses

The Second Phase activities of 'My Job My Pride' Programme will be started from 18 July 2022 through Kudumbashree members. The programme being implemented by the government envisages providing employment to 20 lakh people. The Second Phase activity aims to register those between 21 and 40 years of age on the digital platform (DWMS- Digital Workforce Management System), out of the 53.42 lakh people who registered as job seekers in the first phase survey conducted by Kudumbashree members.

Kudumbashree workers selected at the ward level will register to the digital platform and carry out the profiling activities. Once the profiling is done, the job seekers can know the job opportunities according to their qualifications and apply for the ones they are interested in. Profiling of degree, PG, diploma and polytechnic qualified candidates will be done in the first phase.

Kudumbashree volunteers visited 81,12,268 households and collected data in the first phase of the survey as part of the 'My Job is My Pride' campaign conducted by the Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission to identify job seekers. 79,647 Kudumbashree members gave leadership to these activities.

Kudumbashree's Monsoon Webinar Series has been started on 15 July 2022. The Webinar Series was started as part of bringing awareness messages to NHG families about overcoming the challenges faced during monsoons like natural calamities and health problems including infectious diseases. Dr. Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose, Member Secretary, State Disaster Management Authority inaugurated the webinar series and delivered a lecture on 'Natural Disasters and Survival'.

As part of the programme, a total of fifteen webinars will be organized once a week, with experts from various fields. The objective of the webinar series is to deliver messages to every Kudumbashree family regarding the precautions to be taken to face natural calamities including landslides, floods, cyclones, sea storms, ways to survive the various consequences associated with natural calamities, protection of home and pets during floods, and ways to prevent and prevent infectious diseases and to prepare themselves to face and survive accidental natural calamities.

Kudumbashree CDS chairpersons, representatives of NHGs, Resource Persons and block coordinators will participate in the webinar. It is aimed to spread the knowledge gained through the webinar to the NHGs through them. Shri. Jahamgeer. S, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree delivered welcome speech and Shri. Sreebal B. S., Web Administrator delivered vote of thanks.

To see the webinar, please visit : https://youtu.be/sKXG3itRnsw

Kudumbashree invites logo for Kudumbashree Initiative for Business Solutions (KIBS) Society. Kudumbashree formed KIBS to provide various job opportunities to Kudumbashree members and thereby increase the labor participation of women. The selected entry will also get a cash prize of Rs. 5000.

The last date for receipt of the entries is 27 July 2022. The entries may be sent to The Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree State Mission, Trida Rehabilitation Building, Medical College P.O., Thiruvananthapuram- 695011 or may be sent to the mail id- kudumbashreeprcontest@gmail.com. For details visit – www.kudumbashree.org/kibs

Kudumbashree Kannur District Mission launched 'Cocos' branded coconut oil from Aralam Farm of Kannur district of Kerala. A group of Kudumbashree entrepreneurs from the Aralam Scheduled Tribes Rehabilitation Area have now produced and marketed a coconut oil under their own brand. Mr. Binoy Kurian, Vice President, District Panchayath, Kannur launched the 'Cocos' branded coconut oil in a function held at Aralam Kakkuva, Kannur on 6 July 2022.

They launched their 'Cocos' branded coconut oil with the support of their thirst to succeed and the strong mind to reap achievements through hard work. The coconut oil production unit is started in Kakkuva at Block 11 of Aralam Farm, by including in the Annual Plan of Kannur District Panchayath for 2020-21 financial year. Ms. Kalaranjini, Ms. Savitha, Ms. Ramya, Ms. Sandhya and Ms. Sarojini, Kudumbashree members are in charge of the 'Cocos' coconut oil production unit.

Their dream of launching their own brand of coconut oil for the past one year has now come true with the launch of 'Cocos'. 'Cocos' is pure coconut oil with no added preservatives or other additives. In the first phase, 'Cocos' coconut oil will be available in the general market in half-litre and one-litre bottles. The unit is supported by the financial assistance received from the District Panchayath and Kudumbashree along with the bank loan. Kudumbashree also provided training and technical support for branding the product. The building facility was provided by NABARD and Tribal Resettlement and Development Mission (TRDM).