Mazha Polima is a fallow less village Campaign being conducted by Kudumbashree Kasaragod District Mission as a part of the Mahila Kisan Sashakthikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) Agri Fest. The MKSP team of Kasargode District Mission propagates the innovative idea of this campaign. The Agri fest is being conducted in 41 Community Development Societies in Kasaragod district from 20 June 2018 to 30 July 2018. A total of 1010 Hectares of land was identified as fallow land in the district.

To convert fallow land into cultivable land, conservation of paddy land and traditional culture of farming, promotion of water literacy and food security, popularizing farming to the new generation, promotion of organic farming practices, to ensure convergence with various line department for to ensure fallow less village, promotion of the traditional farm related folk songs, games, art forms etc are the main objectives of the programme. The products of the Kudumbashree units were also kept for sale as part of the Mazha Polima campaign. As part of Mazha Polima Campaign, Community Development Societies (CDS) has also organised various innovative programmes such as District level photography competition and felicitation for women farmers etc.

The performance of the Community Development Societies participating in the campaign would be analyzed and awards would be distributed to the Best CDSs based on their performances. The CDS which converted maximum area of fallow land into cultivable land, best co-ordination, participation of the public in the campaign, documentation of the campaign, the CDS which cultivated maximum number of indigenous seeds, number of Joint Liability Groups doing cultivation in agriculture sector etc would be analysed for giving away the awards. The ethnic food festival organised as part of the Mazha Polima has been attracting more people to the campaign. The fest is becoming a model project in Kasaragod District.

Kudumbashree District Mission of Pathanamthitta is all set to enter into Tourism Sector through  their Gavi Package. Associating with Scheduled Caste Development Department, Government of Kerala, Forest Department and District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC)  Kudumbashree District Mission of Pathanamthitta would soon launch the Gavi Package. Kudumbashree would receive Rs 89 lakhs sanctioned for the same by the Scheduled Castes Development Department.  

As part of the initiative, 3 mini restaurants would be set up at Kodumon, Angamoozhi and Kochu Pamba engaging the Kudumbashree members. Kodumnon Panchayath will allot the land for the  restaurant which will be opened at Kodumon. At Angamoozhi, the restaurant would be set up near Angamoozhi bowl boat boat ride at Seethathode Panchayath and the land for the restaurant at Kochu Pamba would be provided by KSEB. 

Kudumbashree Mission would buy two mini luxury buses for operating the daily tour between Adoor and Gavi. E-tender for buying the buses had already been invited. The proposed mini bus would start journey from Adoor DTPC Centre. One of the buses would be for a one day journey and the other would be for two day journey. The one day tour package will cover Adoor, Kodumon, Konni, Thanithode, Chittar, Angamoozhi, Gavi, Thekkady, Kumily and return to Adoor via Mundakkayam. The one day trip is priced Rs.2000 inclusive of food. Whereas the the two day trip will cover Kottayam, Kumarakom, Alappuzha and return to Adoor and will be charged Rs 4000, which would also include the food charges. 

More than 75 % of the man power for the project would be met from the Scheduled Caste families. As per the plan, the consortium comprising the Departments of Scheduled Caste Development, Forest, Kudumbashree Mission, and the DTPC would monitor the project.

This is the success story of a woman who is radiating light onto the lives of others through her candle making unit. Kayamkulam is one of the home towns famous for processing coir in Alappuzha district. The City Mission Management unit of the Urban Local Body has supported many urban poor to find various means of livelihood. Smt. Sheelamma is one among them.

The City Mission Management Unit (CMMU) had received many applications after the General Awareness campaign conducted in the Urban Local Body which provided information on the Self Employment Programme (SEP) Component of NULM and the support provided to establish a micro enterprise unit. Many persons came forward with diverse enterprise ideas and Sheelamma came with the idea to start a candle making unit. She already had a little bit experience in candle making as was engaged in the business from 2016 onwards. The initial times were not at all profitable for her. She started selling the candles in the nearby shops located near the churches. The effort to sell the candles by providing commissions was not profitable and therefore she started selling the products directly to the shops. Her packing was not that attractive. But the quality of the product helped her to sell the products on a lesser scale. But due to shortage of working capital and lack of knowledge on marketing, quality and variety products she was not able to proceed further. The banks were not willing to provide her loan.

When she came to know about the NULM scheme, she approached the City Mission Management Unit (CMMU) and discussed the possibilities of starting a candle making unit. She shared her anxieties as her initial experience was not positive. With the support of the City Mission Management Unit (CMMU) and Syndicate Bank, Kayamkulam she availed loan under the NULM Self Employment Programme (SEP) Component. The initial experience helped her to buy whatever is required and can be marketed. She started making 16 different types of candles and now she has wide customers. Today she is providing employment to two more women from the network. The marketing initiatives extended from the Kayamkulam to the nearby Urban Local Bodies and Districts now. She is now able to support her family in a good manner.

Transgenders, who were considered outcast by the society till recently, is now coming to the forefront with the confidence in themselves. Kudumbashree Mission have been implementing various programmes for bringing them to the forefront of the society. Kudumbashree had formed special NHGs and helped the transgenders find livelihood for themselves.

So far, there are 21 transgender NHGs working in the state which have 274 members. Any person in the transgender community who have completed 18 years of age could be the members of NHG. As per the bylaw, an NHG should consist of 10-20 members. But a concession had been given in the case of trangenders. Even though there are only less than 10 members , transgender NHGs could be formed as the District Mission Coordinator may use their discretion in forming the traansgender NHGs. The so formed transgender NHGs would be given Rs 10,000 as corpus fund. The formation of such NHGs are progressing in different districts across the state. There are 3 transgenders each working in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, 2 each at Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram and one each at Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargode.

There are 12 transgender Micro Enterprises working across the state. Nicy Chips, a first of its kind Micro Enterprise unit was launched by a group of transgenders from Aanakulam of Kannur district. Sandhya is the president and Sona is the Secretary of the Micro Enterprise unit. Sneha, Maya, Saumini, Aparna, Jasmine, Reema Satheeshan, Sanana and Laisa are the other members of the unit. An average of 2,000 kg of Chips are sold in a month, even though the business is mainly done focusing on trade fairs inside and outside Kerala. Punarjani Juice Corner from Kozhikode is the group initiative of Monisha, Aleena, Shamna and Varsha.They had been taking part in various trade fairs and now they are about to start a permanent juice shop at the civil station premises. They have a sales of Rs 80,000 per month and each of them is earning Rs 10,000 each a month. They had earned upto Rs 30,000 per person.

Amritha, Anamika, Sabitha are the team behind Lakshys Fruits and Juice Corner at Ernakulam Collectorate Premises at Kakkanad. Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission is also situated at the Ernakulam Collectorate premises. The juice shop set up at the kiosk is making a sales of Rs 70,000 per month. Another juice shop and jewellery making unit is also working at NGO Quarters, Ernakulam. Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission is planning to start an outlet as a livelihood activity for transgenders associating with Brahmagiri Society. The vegetables and other products from various units of Kudumbashree would be sold through this proposed outlet.

There are 2 transgender NHGs in Pathanamthitta and they are located at pandalam and Kodumon. Each NHG is running 2 Micro Enterprise units. The five membered group from Kodumon started a dance school. Shyama Prasad, Rahul Raj, Prasad, Sunil Kumar, Aravind are giving leadership to their dance school. 4 students are studying in this school. The other Micro Enterprise units at Pandalam lends the costumes and jewellery for dance programmes. There are 3 Micro Enterprise units at Alappuzha and one Micro Enterprise unit in Malappuram as well.

Nicy Chips of Kannur and Punarjani Juice unit of Kozhikode had took part in Saras fairs and other food festivals. Nicy Chips had also took part at the Saras Fair held at Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Kudumbashree had also made a path breaking gesture by employing trangenders in Kochi Metro through Kudumbashree Facility Management Centre. Presently 14 transgenders are working in Kochi Metro. Kudumbashree is thereby bringing the transgender community from the state of outcast to the accepted.

Kudumbashree Matrimony, the innovative initiative put forward by Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission which stand out unique being the first of its kind in the state, is being extended to other districts of Kerala. It's following the success of the initiative, it is being scaled up to other districts.1000 volunteers had already been given training and the operations at Kazargode District would be started very soon. Kudumbashree Matrimony would be extended to Kannur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kollam Districts by August 2018. District wise offices would be opened in the first phase and later Block wise and Taluk wise offices would also be opened.The District wise offices would have District Co-ordinators as well.Those interested may register to the matrimony may make their registrations directly or through phone or online. The existing website of the Kudumbashree Matrimony at Thrissur would be used for the state level operations as well.

Smt. Sindhu Balan is the woman behind this innovative initiative. She put forward the idea of Kudumbashree Matrimony during the Plan Review Meeting held at Thrissur District Mission office. It is possible to get an accurate picture of the potential brides and grooms through the Kudumbashree networks very easily. No other organisation have such a network like that Kudumbashree holds and therefore it would be easily possible to get a correct profile of the potential candidates seeking alliance without any difficulty. And therefore the issues caused by the marriage fraudsters could be avoided. According to Sindhu, only Kudumbashree Mission could something against the marriage frauds, by making use of the vast network that Kudumbashree possess all over the state.

Kudumbashree Matrimony started functioning when Shri. A.C Moideen, Minister for Industries, Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Kerala inaugurated the initiative in 25 July 2016 at Porkkulam, near Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district. Kudumbashree matrimony unit would be charging much lower amount than the other commercial establishments in the field. The fees fixed currently are Rs 750 for the youngsters from the families of the Kudumbashree members and Rs 1000 for those from the potential brides and grooms from other families. The best matches for the bride and groom are founded through software. Those have internet access may login through the website and get the details of the matching profiles and for the others, the matching profiles are sent through post. The details of the bride and groom would be posted in the website only after cross checking it with the concerned CDSs.

As Kudumbashree Matrimony at Thrissur is to celebrate the second anniversary, it had successfully made happen more than 100 marriages so far. Kudumbashree Matrimony is earning an average of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 every month. The nominal rate and good quality are the hallmark of Kudumbashree Matrimony that more people getting attracted to it.

The Student Support Centre of DDU-GKY was officially launched. Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala inaugurated the Student Support Centre at a function held at Kanakakkunnu Palace Main Hall on 10 July 2018. The Student Support Centre consists of Migration Support Centre, Job Portal and Call Centre. Minister made the official launch by making a call to the Call Centre which is set up at Ernakulam. The Support Centre would help to minimize the exploitation existing in the employment sector. Minister said. DDUGKY Kerala has become a role model for the whole nation by launching the first-of- its kind Student Support Centre in Kerala. The Job seekers would be able to get idea about the current openings through DDUGKY Job Portal. He added.

The Awards for the Best Project Implementing Agencies (PIA) was also given away at the function. Wayanad Social Service Society, Dentcare Dental Labs Private Limited from Muvattupuzha and Mega Industries from Thrissur bagged the First, second and third prizes respectively. Minister also launched the 3 'Promotional Videos' made by KSFDC for the promotional activities of DDUGKY programme in Kerala.

DDUGKY Kerala had received the national award for being the second best state nodal agency for implementing DDU-GKY programme during 2017-18 and had also bagged the national award for being the third best state nodal agency for implementing DDU-GKY programme during 2016-17. Kudumbashree Mission has been working to reduce the vagaries associated with migration of the DDU-GKY youth in three ways by offering them suitable training opportunities, helping them prepare for employment away from home and by providing counseling and support services for a reasonable period of time which would enable them to adapt to a foreign environment. Migration Support Centres (MSCs) established at Kochi is a further step in this direction.

Migration Support Centre offers counseling, access to information, acclimatization support and targeted services to displaced workers. It’s services also include pre-migration preparatory support for both domestic and abroad placed candidates, post-placement counseling, registering migrant workers and undertaking periodic counseling, facilitate accommodation, undertaking qualitative research amongst candidates and employers as follow-up to post placement tracking, job retention and career progression counseling, facilitation for securing utility services, provide inter-department or inter-institution liaison support, providing support to workers in case of exigencies and work disputes etc. The call centre would help in resolving the grievances of candidates and act as an important source of information for candidates, and would also act as Public Grievance Redressal system. The job portal would enable the employer to select the appropriate aspirant from a pool of trained candidates from training centres across the state. The employees would also get the information on the current openings as well. The monitoring of the same would be done by the Kudumbashree SRLM. The software will have provision to update the data of the 20,000 candidates of DDU-GKY who had received job placements till now, which will help in tracking the candidates. The Migration Support Centre was started in Kochi itself as most of the students find job opportunities in Kochi.

DDUGKY, the skill training and placement programme under the Ministry of Rural Development ( MoRD) occupies a unique position amongst the other skill training programmes due to its focus to the poor rural youth and its emphasis on sustainable employment through the prominence and incentives given to post placement tracking, retention and career progression. Kudumbashree SRLM is planning to give skill training to 30,000 rural youth during 2018-2019.

A total of 204 construction teams are getting ready to rephrase the history by undertaking the works in construction sector. A total of 204 new Kudumbashree construction groups are identified across the state. This is in addition to the 70 Kudumbashree trained groups in the state. So, altogether it makes 274. Out of 204 new teams, training in house construction have been started for 63 teams, and it will be started in a couple of weeks for the remaining teams. The team is undergoing training by constructing one house of a LIFE mission beneficiary. 29 such houses are being constructed as a part of training of the 63 groups, and construction of about 70 houses will be undertaken when the training for all 204 group commences. The construction of one house of the same kind was completed within record time of 40 days. Out of the 204 groups identified, 9 are urban groups and 195 are rural groups.

It was on anticipating the huge shortage of labour force in the near future because of various determined Government campaigns of mass housing,that training was extended to women in construction sector. So that groups of micro contractors could be formed, who can take up the construction of houses of poor and needy, in addition to taking up of bigger projects. As a part of LIFE mission more than 2.5 lakh houses are being constructed in the state in this financial year. This provides huge employment opportunity for women construction groups. Further, once the construction groups completes 3/4 houses, it is aimed to upgrade them to become micro contractors for taking up various works of local self governments. Training is given by taking up the construction of the beneficiaries of various government schemes like PMAY(U), LIFE etc.

Accredited agenicies like State Nirmithi Kendra, District Nirmithi Kendra, Maithri, Habitat, Thrissur Labour Contracting Society, Pinarayi Industrial Cooperative Society, Kerala State Housing Board, Kerala State Construction Corporation, Costford, Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society, Kitco, Eksath etc are extending construction training to the identified groups in the respective districts under the leadership of the the District Mission Coordinators. Training on construction activities for Kudumbashree members aims to extend skill training for women in various trades in the construction industry for enhancing the skill of the women in construction related activities such that a sustainable income is generated.

Kudumbashree women completed construction of a LIFE Mission house in record time. It is within 40 days that 27 Kudumbashree women from Alappuzha completed the construction of LIFE Mission house at Pallipad, near Alappuzha.A beneficiary from Pallipad CDS was identified earlier and a group of 32 women were given training with the help of Eksath training centre. It was for Shri. Rameshan Kalachira from Pallipad and his family which consists of his wife Smt. Sheejamma and their daughter Sreekutty that the house was built. The project was named as 'Sreekuttykkoru Swapna Veedu' by Kudumbashree women.

This is the first construction work took up by the Kudumbashree Women. Kudumbashree Mission clubbed the construction for Life Mission and the construction training for the women together to reduce the cost of construction. Four masons gave leadership for the construction training. Along with the construction training, motivational training was also extended to them. Apart from that, training was also given in brick making and ferroslabs making. It is planned to build the Life Mission houses in each block in the same model. The same construction model would be replicated in another panchayaths as well. Kudumbashree women thus rewrote the history by completing their task within record time.

For attaining self sufficiency on demand of the propagation material for Kudumbashree as well as for the supply of best quality seedlings and saplings to all at reasonable and uniform rates throughout Kerala, Kudumbashree Mission would soon launch Jaivika plant Nurseries across the state. Till then, Kudumbashree had been depending on Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) for meeting the seedling requirements. Presently, Kudumbashree have 159 existing plant nurseries in hand. In addition to this, 140 new plant nursery units would be established, in a manner of 10 units per district in the common brand name 'Jaivika'.

Considering the aspects such as sizable plot, road access, and availability of the basic resources, the nursery sites would be identified in the respective districts.140 units would be identified and given high end training in different propagation and maintenance techniques. The training would be imparted to the selected groups or individuals through various government departments or skilled personnel from other established units. These nurseries would have all kinds of planting materials including vegetables, fruit trees, ornamental plants and common trees developed through the latest propagation methods.

Revolving funds would be extended to each unit for the same. Scale up and branding of existing Kudumbashree nurseries are also contemplated along with. Online monitoring of stocks and sales will be done at later stage to ensure the sustainability of these nurseries.

Twenty five Kudumbashree Members will be offered job in Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KELTRON), which has been the catalysis for the development of electronics industry in Kerala. The placement is offered for the post of 24 computer operators and one cleaning staff. The selected would be placed at Keltron's Automated Enforcement Control Room at Kakkanad, Kochi. The interview for the posts would take place soon and the placements would be complete by 1 August 2018.

Keltron had communicated the requirement for the posts during June 2018 and Kudumbashree informed the willingness to arrange the required man power. SSLC (Pass), typewriting and minimum 6 months experience in data entry network are the preferred qualifications for the data entry operator. Kudumbashree had submitted a list of 39 incumbents who are having required qualification and are willing to work as per permissible emoluments to Keltron for the further selection process. Keltron would select the candidates through a personal interview which would take place soon. The operators are offered job in two shifts from 6 AM to 2 PM and 2 PM to 10 PM. Rs 13,979 and Rs 12,318 are offered to the computer operators and cleaning staff respectively. It also has put in place mandatory compliance like Employee's State Insurance (ESI) and Provident Fund (PF) provisions.

It is connection with the deployment of man power of Keltron's one of their major projects that they communicated their interest in associating with Kudumbashree for engaging suitable man power for the successful completion of the project. The MoU regarding the same would be signed soon. Kudumbashree has trained manpower in IT for data entry works who are sought after for similar works in NORKA, Insuarance sector, Registration Department, Motor Vehicle Department.