Kudumbashree's AC waiting lounge opened at Kozhikode railway station become a boon to many. It was with the aim of providing better passenger amenities for the public that Kudumbashree Mission has entered into the service sector of Railways. Kudumbashree has taken over the rest room at Kozhikode Railway station on 10 May 2018. 

Facilities like modern toilets, television sets, sanitary napkin vending machine and automatic ticket printing machine are already available at the lounge. Besides the existing facilities, additional features like feeding corner reading point, children’s play space and additional seating will also be arranged.Four women staff will be available in the lounge round the clock for providing the services. 

Tirur is the next station to come under the collaboration. The project has been implemented on a cost-sharing basis between Railways and the Kudumbashree Mission. Currently, Kudumbashree has presence in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Kollam railway stations. The pay-and-park facilities and vegetarian refreshment rooms at various stations in southern Kerala during Sabarimala season had evoked good response from everyone.

The Mobile Operation Theatre for Animal Birth Control initiated by Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission was launched by Dr K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala on 9 May 2018 at Central Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. The Mobile Operation Theatre unit is launched for executing the Animal Birth Control activities in the district in a more convenient and easier way.

It is the 'Winners ABC Mobile unit', affiliated to the District Mission of Thiruvananthapuram that is launched as a path breaking step in the sector of Animal Birth Control.The mobile unit mobilize all the amenities that an Animal Birth Control Operation theatre would have. The group comprises of two women and three men. The unit would travel to the panchayaths which need the service of the mobile operation unit for executing the animal birth control activities and would ensure the service of the veterinary doctor empanelled by the District Mission Coordinator. The unit had received Rs 3 lakhs fund from District Panchayath. Rs 3.50 was received as innovation fund and Rs 50,000 as start up fund. It is the responsibility of the unit to arrange the finance for the vehicle. The maintenance, insurance and service of the vehicle would also be met by the group from their profits. The attender of the vehicle himself would act as the driver of the vehicle. The other ABC units may also hire the mobile unit if needed, which would in turn be a source of revenue for the mobile unit. The District Mission Coordinator himself would schedule the work orders of the mobile ABC unit, prioritising as per the funds availed from various panchayaths. The Winner ABC mobile unit comprises of Smt. Rajani T.G, Smt. Jeevashree.M. Shri Satheesh Kumar M.G., Shri Jithesh K.G, and Shri. Mukesh M.S.

A total of 12 veterinary hospitals in the district have the amenities for executing the birth control activities. But it is not possible to complete the birth control activities arise in the district using those facilities only. By the launch of the mobile Animal Birth Control unit, this issue could be easily resolved. By taking the mobile unit to the veterinary hospitals, the service of both hospital and the unit might be utilized. Thereby, the service of the veterinary hospitals, which don't have the amenities for executing the animal birth control activities could be made use of. This would help in using the service of the 75 % of veterinary hospitals in the district. Shri. V.K Madhu, District Panchayath President, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. K.R Shaiju, District Mission Coordinator, Thiruvananthapuram District Mission and Ms. Anjana M.S, Assistant District Mission Coordinator, Thiruvananthapuram District Mission was also present at the function.

This is the story of a woman who turned her leisure time activity into livelihood with the help of Kudumbashree Mission. Through the Self Employment Programme Component of National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), Remya founded out her strengths and found livelihood. Kudumbashree Mission is the nodal agency for implementing the centrally designed programme, National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) in Kerala.

For Smt. Remya, a 36 year old woman residing at Guruvayur Municipality, photography was just a leisure time activity. Remya is a graduate who was forced to discontinue her education after marriage and was merely engaged in raising her children. She spend her leisure time without using her skills and education in any form for the last 10 years. She was so worried about it and she wanted do something which utilizes her skills and knowledge. Her husband being a photographer by profession, Remya used her leisure time to learn photography from her husband. But without a new camera she was not even able to earn income as her own. She bought a new camera under NULM Self Employment Programme (SEP) Component. Now she is earning income as a freelance photographer. Apart from that, she also continued her education by attending Accounting course at Employment through Skill Training and Placment (ESTP) component of NULM. Now her eyes are sparkling with rays of hope of getting a job after this course. This lady was so excited about continuing her education and earning income, that too from her leisure time activity.

Self Employment Programme Component of NULM focus on financial assistance to individuals/groups of urban poor for setting up gainful self-employment ventures/ micro-enterprises, suited to their skills, training, aptitude and local conditions. The Employment through Skill Training & Placement(EST&P) programme provide skill training of the urban poor to enable them setting up self-employment ventures and for salaried jobs in the private sector. The EST&P Program intends to fill the gap between the demand and availability of local skills by providing skill training programs as required by the market. These two components changed her life positively by bridging the gap between her education and career. Here women empowerment joints hands with financial empowerment.

A 23 member foreign delegation visited Kerala to study about the poverty alleviation activities being implemented by Kudumbashree Mission in Kerala. The delegation would attend the training programme on 'The Entrepreneurial Development of women in rural areas' under Feed The Future India Triangular Training (FTF ITT) - International Training Programmeo organised by Kudumbashree Mission in association with National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management, Hyderabad (MANAGE) at Samudra, Kovalam from 9-23 May 2018.

The delegation include senior officials of agriculture, irrigation, animal husbandry, job, fisheries and gender development departments of Liberia, Uganda, Mongolia, Malawi and Kenya. The delegation would make field visits to selected NHGs, ADSs, CDSs, Nutrimix unit, Cafe Kudumbashree, amenity centres, rice collective at Eraviperoor, BUDS at Pallickal and plastic shredding unit at Eraviperoor. Through the field visits, the delegation would be able to study about the role played by NHGs in strengthening the three tier system of Kudumbashree Mission. The delegation would also interact with the successful Kudumbashree women who had made noteworthy achievements in their respective sectors. The officials from State- District Missions would also accompany the delegation.

Kudumbashree had extended training for a 28 member team different african countries during last year as part of the training organised by National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management, Hyderabad. Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) was entrusted for giving training to this team. On getting motivated by the training received at Kerala, Kudumbashree was invited to Uganda and a team from Kudumbashree Mission had visited Uganda and gave training for their officials.

Smt. P. Ramlath, Director, Kudumbashree Mission inaugurated the training programme. Shri.Ajith Chacko, Chief Operating Officer, NRLM welcomed the gathering. Dr. Uma, Director, MANAGE, Smt. Amruda.G.S, Programme Officer, Shri. Nikesh Kiran, Programme Officer, Dr. Ravikumar, Animal Birth Control Project Expert, Shri. Rahul Krishna, Thematic Anchor, Kudumbashree NRO, Shri. Arun P. Rajan, State Assistant Programme Manager and Smt. Chinnu Joseph, Project Executive also attended the programme. The training programme will come to an end on 23 May 2018.

Kudumbashree District Mission of Kozhikode made a path breaking gesture by launching Children's Band set-'21 Pilots' by joining together the Balasabha students in the district.The band formed of children from the Balasabhas under Kozhikode Corporation Kudumbasree CDS was launched by Shri. Thottathil Raveendran, Mayor, Kozhikode Corporation launched the band by handing over the baton to Ms. M.P Ardra, band captain, 21 Pilots Band at the programme held at Kozhikode beach on 7 May 2018. The team consists of 21 children of the age group under 18, mostly from financially backward families.

The '21 Pilots' band set are being trained by Shri. K.M. Kuriakose, a known band trainer in the district. After the inaugural function, the band made their debut performance at Kozhikode Beach. The band owns 5 trumpets, 2 bugles, 4 drums, 4 side drums, 3 cymbals, 2 euphonium and 1 major stick. The band would also perform at the programme which would be held in connection with the Second anniversary celebrations of Government of Kerala and 20th Anniversary celebrations of Kudumbashree Mission which would be held at Kozhikode during 17-19 May 2018.

Smt. Anita Rajan, Welfare standing committee chairperson of the corporation handed over the badges to the band members. Smt. Meera Darshak,Deputy Mayor, Kozhikode Corporation, Smt T.V. Lalithaprabha, K.V. Baburaj, M.C. Anil Kumar Standing Committee Chairpersons, Smt P.C. Kavitha, Kudumbashree Kozhikode District Mission Coordinator and other dignitaries also attended the function. '21 Pilots' is the first band set formed under Balasabha of Kudumbashree fold in the State.

Kudumbashree Mission received the national award for being the second best state nodal agency for implementing DDU-GKY programme during 2017-18. Shri. Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Shri. Raghubar Das, Chief Minister, Jharkhand gave away the award to Dr Praveen, Chief Operating Officer and Shri. Shibu. N.P, State Programme Manager at the programme held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Ranchi, Jharkhand on 5 May 2018. This is for the second time that Kudumbashree is bagging the award. Last year also Kudumbashree had received the award for being the third best state nodal agency implementing the programme in the state. 9196 out of the 10663 trained youth had secured job placements during 2017-18.

The Award committee has employed two stage process for ranking the states based on their performances during 2017-2018. Score for achieving training target for the last financial year, score for achieving placement target for the last financial year, score for assessed against trained, score for certified against assessed, score for fund installments, score for training centre capacity utilization, score for inspections done, score for utilization of funds, score for engagement of Technical Support Agency, HR score, usage of MIS, score for timely commencement (PAC to MoU), score for timely commencement ( MoU to fund release),score for sanction ( EC approved against sanctioned), State's contribution to National Performance ( Training), State's contribution to National Performance ( Placement), Initiatives or Best Practices etc were the parameters considers for screening the applications etc were considered in the first stage. In the second stage, the presentation on the implementation of the DDU-GKY programme in their respective states was done by the state nodal agencies. It was based on the scores attained by the states in two stages the awards were decided. As of now, Kudumbashree SRLM has 52 PIAs and 83 projects in hand. Kudumbashree had devised various field level and policy level innovations for the successful implementation of the programme in the state.

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.

Kudumbashree's Art Festival 'Arangu' was kickstarted at Edappal. Dr. K.T Jaleel, Minister, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala inaugurated the festival at Edappal on 4 May 2018. The Art festival is organised by Kudumbashree Mission in association with Local Self Government Department. More than 2000 Kudumbashree women took part in the procession organised prior to the inaugural function. Traditional Art forms like Theyyam, Thira, Karinkali, Oppana, Kaikottikali, etc were presented at the procession.

The three day Art Festival will take place at the 5 venues named Nila, Pamba, Mayyazhi, Kabani and Chaliyar. 1500 women from 14 districts across the state will take part in 26 items. The competitions are arranged in in sections- junior and senior. Those within the age limit 15-35 would be considered as junior and those above 35 years would be considered as Senior.

Group song, Shinkari Melam, Recitation,Mappilappaat, Light Music, Fancy Dress, Pencil Drawing, Water colour, story writing, poem writing, violin,monoact etc are the competitions in which the women are competing with each other.

The Art Festival is being an opportunity for the women to present their artistic talents before the society. Shri. E.TMuhamed Basheer, Shri. V. Abdurahman MLA, Smt. Pushpaja, Member, Kudumbashree Governing Body and other dignitaries also attended the function. Smt. C.K Hemalatha, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission welcomed the gathering and Shri. K.M Vinod, Assistant District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission extended vote of Thanks.

The story of Thripthi Shetty can be depicted as the best example in describing how Kudumbashree Mission has touched the lives of the weaker and marginalized sections in the society. Thripthi Shetty is a transgender, hailing from Manjeshwaram of Kasargod district, who had faced many difficulties in undertaking different jobs for livelihood. She received a dignified life after becoming the part of the special NHG under Kochi East CDS.

As part of inclusion of the marginalized and weaker sections, Kudumbashree Mission gave special focus on transgenders and this helped Kochi East CDS to form special NHGs for transgender. Thripthi became a member of this NHG. The general awareness workshops on the National Urban Livelihoods Mission scheme motivated her to start a designer jewellery shop. But working capital and loan availability etc was a big concern and she approached the City Mission Management Unit (CMMU) to understand the various steps to establish an enterprise. The banks were reluctant to provide loan, even though she had an Aadhar card and a training certificate. The bank insisted for additional ID proof. The constant efforts of the Mission unit motivated State Bank of India to sanction loan based on the task force recommendation. As a result, she received loan for an amount of Rs 1 lakh after two months of submission of the application. Later, Thripthi procured the materials for designer jewellery from various states and made different variety ornaments. Initially her marketing was centered on Kudumbashree fests.

Now Thripthi Shetty has developed an online portal ‘Thripthi Handicrafts and Fashion’ (www.thripthi.in) and is engaged in e-marketing as well. If right intervention is made at the right time, many people like Thripthi can be supported and saved. Her story can be considered as the is the best epitome for Kudumbashree Mission's interventions.

For the first time in India, an Urban Local Body launched 3 innovative enterprises marking the May Day observance. It was Paravoor Municipality of Ernakulam district of Kerala, that launched 3 innovative enterprises.The Mother's Kitchen Unit, House Keeping Unit and the Urban Service Team are the three innovative enterprises launched by the Paravoor Municipality. The 3 enterprises started working on the May Day itself. The teams are set up with the help of the centrally designed programme National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). Shri. Ramesh D. Kurup, Chairman, North Paravoor Municipality inaugurated the three enterprises at Paravoor Municipality premises on 1 May 2018.

The first in the row, Vinayaka Mother's Kitchen team would deliver home made food on call. Whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, the Mother's Kitchen team would deliver it in no time. Smt. Geetha Parameswaran, Smt. Sindhu Sunil Kumar, Smt. Vimala Appu, Smt. Sasikala Subhanayakan and Smt. Jaya Narayanan are the women behind Vinayaka Mother's Kitchen. Whereas, Sadgamaya House Keeping Unit would undertake all the cleaning works of houses, institutions, auditoriums etc. Smt. Praseetha, Smt. Deepa, Smt. Aneesha, Smt.Rajani and Smt. Habsath are the members of the Sadgamaya House Keeping Unit. Paravoor Urban Service team is set up to do the electrical, plumbing, masonry, painting and gardening works in households. Shri. Babu, Shri. Bijoy, Shri. Baiju, Shri. Sudheesh and Shri. David are the members of the Urban Service Team.

The teams would be working based on Paravoor Municipal office. the Urban Local Body had already published the contact numbers the member of these three innovative enterprises. By launching three innovative enterprises, Paravoor ULB has managed to make their mark.

Kudumbashree Mission is about  to launch Common Facility Centres across the State, where a consortium of Kudumbshree Entrepreneurs come together to make same kind of products. As part of this, 19  Common Facility Centres would be started in 12 districts in Kerala very soon. It is envisioned to form a consortium of enterprises by clustering them in the basis of the kind of the products they make. Mainly the production of apparels, food products and cement brick sectors are aimed at by launching the Common Facility Centres. The  Common Facility Centres would act as a working area where the entrepreneurs from an area could make their products, pack it and ensure its quality. Kudumbashree aims to identify all enterprises in the district level working in similar way and to start  Common Facility Centres ensuring them enough support they need. 4525 Kudumbashree women would be benefited out of thelaunch of  Common Facility Centres.

It would then be possible to produce branded products from a particular locality itself, if the entrepreneurs from that particular locale would be able to produce huge quantity of products. Those entrepreneurs who can't afford buying machinery may make use of the  Common Facility Centres. The production cost could be minimized as the raw materials are procured together by the  Common Facility Centres. The Product Testing facility would also be arranged at the  Common Facility Centres. By ensuring the service and supervision  of  the professionals in this sector, this initiative could secure better marketing of Kudumbashree Products. Common Protocol would be ensured in the sales of the product.  The respective District Mission Coordinators would be in charge of the  Common Facility Centres.

The respective Local Self Government Institutions would arrange the infrastructure for starting the  Common Facility Centres. Kudumbashree Mission would spent around Rs 50 lakh for launching  Common Facility Centres. The 60 % of the amount would be used for buying machinery, 15 % for building renovation and, another 15 % would be use for conducting training programmes and 10 % would be used for designing, packing and better marketing.