Children's Day was celebrated with fun and frolic in almost all BUDS Special Schools across Kerala. Childrens Day is celebrated to pay tribute to the legendary freedom fighter and our First prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. BUDS Special Schools for mentally challenged, under the guidance of Kudumbashree Mision, always strives to emerge out with something new for its students and Children's Day being a day especially for them. This year, BUDS Schools in Kerala celebrated Children's Day with a host of fun filled activities. The children arrived at schools, dressed in colorful clothes and were full of excitement during the special activities conducted in the schools. Many of them dressed like Jawaharlal Nehru and were in great excitement during the whole day. Parents accompanied them to schools to see the performances of their ward. Informative speeches were given by the teachers to the parents and children gathered at BUDS institutions. The students were overwhelmed with the entire effort. They cheered their teachers on as they saw them on dancing and singing and joined them in singing and dancing. The BUDS institutions were indeed buzzing with excitement and joy.

BUDS Schools are free and open special schools for mentally challenged children of poor families, owned and managed by the Local Self Government Institutions under the support and guidance of Kudumbashree Mission and the community structure. Whereas, BUDS Rehabilitation Centres (BRCs) are day care centres for mentally challenged persons which are intended to fill a gap in the State’s existing system for providing care to the mentally challenged that caters only to persons up to 18 years of age. BRCs are meant for those who have already undergone special education through BUDS Schools or other centres. However, centres are also open to mentally challenged children who are unable to attend schools. BRCs are meant to train and support persons with special needs for equipping them with skills that make them employable. There are 114 BRCs and 88 BUDS Schools in Kerala which make a total of 202 BUDS institutions in Kerala.

The formation of Bala Libraries under the leadership of Balasabha aiming at developing the inherent talents of children are progressing all across the state. 212 Bala Libraries have been formed across Kerala which have a collection of 31,177 books altogether. The Bala Libraries are functioning either in the house of a Balasabha member which is accessible to everyone, in rented rooms, Anganwadis, Krishi Bhavan, Jana Seva Kendras, Health Centres or any such public spaces. 

Even though it was directed to start a minimum of 3 Bala Libraries under a District Mission, many districts have started more than that. Maximum number of Bala Libraries are formed in Palakkad district. A total of 137 Bala Libraries are functioning there.16 Bala Libraries function in Malappuram, 13 in Ernakulam, 10 in Kozhikode, 5 in Kottayam, 4 in Wayanad and 3 Bala Libraries each function in Idukki and Kasaragode districts.    

Formation of Bala Libraries was one of the main activities of Balasabha. It aimed at improving the reading habit of children which would in turn improve the mental growth of the children. A registered Bala Library would have a minimum of 300 books. The books were collected through ' Pusthakayathra', a book collection drive organised by the Kudumbashree members, Balasabha members and ward members. The chairs, tables, shelves and almirahs for the Bala Library were found through sponsorship. Kudumbashree Mission would also extend financial assistance for setting up Bala Libraries. A committee comprising of 3 Balasabha members ( President, Vice president, Secretary), Ads representative, ward member, CDS Chairperson/ CDS member and  Balasabha Resource Persons would be in charge of the functioning of the Bala Library. A Kudumbashree member would act as a librarian for the Bala Library.  

Balasabha is a collective attempt to ensure the participation of children in the democratic space at the local Government level and in their community. Small Learning Groups for experimental and systematic learning, opportunities for understanding democratic process, participation in conserving environment, enabling children to unfold the intricacies of collectivization are the basic focal points of Balasabha. There are 32,878 Balsabhas in the state with 4,30,908 children as members.

The Advance Payment system of the Wages under MGNREGS for the tribal workers in Wayanad was inagurated. Shri. C.K Saseendran, MLA inaugurated the Advance Payment system of the Wages under MGNREGS for the tribal workers on 30 October 2018. Muttil, Pulppally and Panamaram are the Panchayaths which are selected in the district for implementing the programme. The Advance payment system is being piloted in the Ward 6 (Karyambadi) of Muttil Panchayath from 22 October 2018.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA), is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'. It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Snehitha @ School is a special initiative programme of Snehitha Gender Help Desk, Pathanamthitta. It was started to extend the services of Snehitha to the adolescent students in the district, to help them to ventilate their personal, behavioral, family and learning issues. In the preliminary stage, one school form every block was selected for the programme. A room is arranged for Snehitha and a Snehitha box is kept outside the room to receive the issues of students, and the box will be opened in the presence of the school principal and Snehitha Counsellor. Interventions will be done on the basis of the issues received. It is planned to visit the school twice in a month. On that day, the service of Snehitha counsellor will be made available in the school, which would benefit the teachers, students and parents. Apart from these days, services of Snehitha would be available at the school if any emergency comes. In the following days, Snehitha would conduct classes on exam preparation, personality development, behavior modification and other classes that would benefit for the students.

Various awareness progrmmes and extension activities will be conducted in the school in coming weeks. The first school selected for the programme is KRPM HSS, Seethathode in the Ranni block. Inauguration of this programme at the school was conducted on 8 November 2018. Following the inauguration, Smt. Deepa S.S, Snehitha Counsellor led a class on "How to study effectively". Awareness about the Snehitha Gender Help Desk was given to all parents by conducting a special parents meeting.

The official inauguration of the distribution of the Discount cards for the Resurgent Kerala Loan Scheme was held at Sree Narayana Gurudeva Hall, Chalakkudy, Thrissur on 10 November 2018. Shri. A.C Moideen, Minister for Local Self Governments, Government of Kerala inaugurated the distribution of the Discount cards for the Resurgent Kerala Loan Scheme. The Scheme Brochure was also released during the function. Adv. V. S. Sunil Kumar, Minister for Agriculture Government of Kerala presided over the function. Shri. S Harikishore, Executive Director, explained about the programme in detail.

Resurgent Kerala Loan Scheme was launched with the aim of giving hand support to regain the life and livelihood and to hold and pacify, those who stands in misery along with the loss of this State followed by impact of the worst natural disaster faced by Kerala. The Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission was authorized to facilitate the bank loan as per the RKL Scheme up to Rs 1 lakh to family head for the purchase of domestic appliances and other purposes. As per the scheme, the beneficiaries may buy utensils from the registered dealers in 40-50 % discount from the market rates. The selected companies have made necessary arrangements to make avail the utensils, products to the beneficiaries in discounted rates through their accredited dealers/ stockists in each districts. The Scheme Brochure give detail information about the products available in discount rates and the details of the stockists/ dealers in each districts.

NULM's Employment through Skill Training and Placement is touching lives of many. The story of Ms. Kamiya is one among such stories. Ms. Kamiya was a household woman. It was the SHG campaigns that made her a member of SHG named Thejas. Initially it was just a group membership for her. Each SHG meetings seemed informative for her. It gave her an impression that there are lot happening around. Lots of information’s were shared in each weekly meetings and she started making use of it.

It was one of those meetings that gave her information regarding the proposed mobilization camp for free skill training program under NULM. The mobilization camp arranged by the city mission management unit of Nilambur ULB was so informative for her and she felt she should pursue a skill training. She became the beneficiary of Employment through Skill Training and Placement ( EST&P) and attended the counseling sessions and got admitted for the 3 months free skill training course on Accounts Assistant Using Tally at Nilambur. She completed the course successfully and got certified.

It was just another meeting, attending Self Employment Program (SEP) campaign which took her life to another dimension. The Sparsham campaign conducted by City Mission Managment Unit (CMMU), NULM of Nilambur ULB made her aware of the SEP loan scheme for aspirant entrepreneurs. That made her dream her about setting up her own enterprise. She assessed the need of her resident area and decided to start a Super Market. She then applied for a loan of Rs. 2 lakh under NULM SEP and got it sanctioned from Indian Bank, Nilambur Branch. Now she is running the venture successfully and decent income is being generated. The confidence of present success made her think of another Super Market in a different area of the ULB. She indeed is a live example of making a change through NULM.

NULM is a complete package for someone who wants to have a change in his/her livelihood. All the components are designed to make certain changes in the income and social security of common man. Nilambur Urban CDS has always been considered as one of the best CDS in Malappuram District. It always encouraged urban people for becoming self sufficient. After the implementation of NULM there are many cases where NULM made a difference in their stories. Ms Kamiya is one among them.

Kudumbashree has opened  'Kripa Kudumbashree Home- A hostel venture of Nilambur CDS under NULM. Situated near to Nilambur town,  Kripa Kudumbashree is run as an individual enterprise. Now they have two hostel premises, one with a capacity for 21 inmates, run for DDUGKY Programme and the other with a capacity of 30 inmates for NULM making a total of  51 inmates.

As Nilambur town is a place where many residential training programs under Government take place, the need for a permanent hostel facility became the need of the day. It has residential training programs under the Employment through Skills Training & Placement (EST&P) component under National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) also. Smt. Amina,  CDS Chairperson spoke to Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) regarding the setting up a hostel since JSS have to find hostel facility for their proposed residential batches under NULM as well as DDU GKY.  Jan Shikshan Sansthan expressed their willingness to have a hostel run for their students by Kudumbashree.  

The initial capital requirement of Rs 2 lakh for the venture was raised by the entrepreneur, Smt. Amina, herself. For further financial assistance they have applied for loan under the Self Employment Programme component of NULM. Kripa Homes is providing homely food for the students and are availing the service of Kudumbashree members for cooking and hostel security. Both the hostel buildings are rented which are well maintained and it provides a good ambiance for students. Water and transport facilities are available in the hostel. Rooms have sufficient number of beds and toilets. Even when there are no residential courses available in the city, the entrepreneur has got a chance to convert it to a ladies hostel. Hence, multiple sources of income.

An International Training Programme on ‘Entrepreneurship Development among Rural Women’ is being organized at Thiruvananthapuram from 6- 20 November 2018.The inauguration of the programme was conducted by Shri.S.Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission at Mascot Hotel Thiruvananthapuram on 6 November 2018. The special address was delivered by Dr Mahantesh Shirur, Deputy Director, Agriculture MANAGE and Dr Ravi Nandi Programme Manager, FTF ITT MANAGE. 

On inaugurating the programme, he spoke about poverty in Kerala and how poverty is being addressed through the large network of rural women of Kudumbashree, Kerala. He also highlighted on the various livelihood initiates being undertaken by the women and the impact in their lives.  He encouraged the participants to learn from the experience of Kudumbashree and contextualise in their own Countries.

The training Programme is organised by Kudumbashree Mission in association with National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management, Hyderabad (MANAGE). 

USAID and Ministry of External Affairs, Goverment of India designed a program named as Feed the Future India Triangular Training (FTF ITT) Program which was launched on 25 July 2016 at New Delhi. During the program period until 2020, a total of 1400 Agricultural professionals from 17 partner countries of Africa and Asia will be trained. The program will conduct 32, fifteen days duration training courses (excluding travel period) at select Indian institutions for 25 participants in each programme, and twelve, 10 days duration trainings (excluding travel period), in selected partner countries in Africa and Asia, for up to 50 participants per programme.

This approach is designed to respond to the needs of target Countries based on the Demand Analysis carried out at the beginning of this program. National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, India, an autonomous organization under ministry of Agriculture and farmers welfare, Government of India has been designated as lead Institution for implementation of the program.

Kudumbashree has been identified as one of the training partners for their expertise in Entrepreneurship of rural women.  During the year 2017 and 2018, three training programme under Feed the Future (FTF) was successfully conducted by Kudumbashree. The programme is being attended by six countries and 26 participants.

The details of this is being given below.

Kudumbasree Wayanad District Mission took a new initiative in women empowerment programme called 'Women Grama Sabha', which was conducted as a joint venture with Meppadi Grama Panchayath of Wayanad District. Women Grama Sabha was organized as an initiative of the Gender Resource Center. About 300 women from the village participated in the program. Special attention was given to the venture as part of the new Project Planning of Local Self Government Department (2019-20). Participation of housewives and NHG members were ensured in the program. Shri. Sahad, Panchayath President, Meppadi Grama Panchayath inaugurated the program.

Discussions were held on development activities, strategies and tactics to be used in the development process of the panchayath. Elected ward Counselors had actively participated in the program and discussed about the issues related with each ward and developmental plans. Acute observations and analysis were made and a lot of innovative plans were noticed. The participants were divided into 10 groups and discussions were held on various subjects and a leader elected from each group were made a presentation based on the discussions. The Women Gramasabha seemed to be a reflection that, how the Kudumbashree initiatives made changes in the Society.

'Snehajalakam'  is a special initiative programme  of Kudumbashree  Thiruvananthapuram District Mission.  It is designed as a convergence programme which connects Snehitha Gender Help Desk, Gender Resource Centres (GRC), Schools, Local self Government Departments and CDS. The inaugural function of  'Snehajalakam' campaign was conducted at Karakulam GRC on 26 October 2018 .   The exhibition was inaugurated by Smt.Anila, Panchayath President, Karakulam.

The programme is combined with  exhibition, film show and awareness campaign. 86 students and 2 teachers from Govt UP School, Karakulam participated in the exhibition and after that an awareness class was given to the students on the topic “Child right and atrocities against children” by Snehitha Counselor and Service provider.  It also make the participants aware about the services of Snehitha Gender Help Desk. Along with students the exhibition was fully fledged with the participation of NHG members, ADS, CDS members & ward members. ‘Snehajalakam’ will be conducted in other GRCs of Trivandrum district. The program also aims to conduct classes in various schools in the district.