Kudumbashree received work order from Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, India’s premier institution dedicated to train Officers of the country’s higher civil services. The order is received for supplying 2300 handmade toilet soaps. Kudumbashree had sent toilet soap samples of different fragrances to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie. It is after that they placed the order for 2300 handmade toilet soaps. The orders are placed Turmeric, Pappaya, Rose and Sandal fragrances.

As per the order Kudumbashree will supply toilet soap bars of 40 gm weight. The Eladi Soap Unit from Elambakappally, Perumbavoor, Ernakulam would supply the soaps. Eladi Soap Unit had participated in several trade fairs inside and outside Kerala and their product had received wide acceptance among the customers. The soap is also available at kudumbashreebazaar.com, Kudumbashree's online portal. Kudumbashree would deliver the order to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie by August 2018.

Muttathe Mulla scheme which involves the disbursement of loans at low rates of interests to rural households was launched as a pilot project in Palakkad. Shri. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswoms, Government of Kerala launched the scheme at a programme held at Palakkad on 26 June 2018.The programme is implemented by Department of Co-operation, Government of Kerala with the support of Kudumbashree, aiming at liberating the women from the local blade mafia and also private micro finance companies as the latter's interest rates vary between 24 and 30 percent.

Muttathe Mulla seeks to disburse loans at lower rates of interest and the women have to repay it on a weekly basis. Under the scheme, each woman will be disbursed a loan between Rs 1,000 and Rs 25,000.The interest rate will be 12 percent, that is Rs 1 for a loan of Rs 100 for one month. Loans which can be repaid in 10 weeks were also available. The loans will also be given to close old loans taken from blade companies which can be settled on a one-time basis. The scheme is being implemented in each ward through the three units of the Kudumbashree which would be selected based on its efficiency in its working and its credibility. The members of Kudumbashree will go to the houses of its members who need loans and disburse it to them. They would also collect the loan repayment visiting the households in weekly basis. Each Kudumbashree unit will get a cash credit of Rs 10 lakh at an interest of 9 percent would be disbursed as loan. Of the 12 percent interest to be levied, 9 percent will go to the primary cooperative societies, and 3 percent to the Kudumbashree women. Therefore the Muttathe Mulla Programme of Department of co-operation would help the Kudumbashree women raise themselves while raising their fellow citizens, putting an end to the exploitation of the local blade mafia and private micro finance companies.

Kudumbashree Mission in convergence with the Kollam Corporation has launched Reverse Osmosis plant (RO Plant) in Kollam Corporation. The RO Plant was inaugurated by Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Harbour Engineering and Cashew Industry, Government of Kerala on 28 June 2018. Located at the premises of Kollam Corporation, the plant is run by ' Mithra' a group of 5 selected women from Kudumbashree groups in Kollam. Minister said that the Venad Purified Water would be a solution for the drinking water scarcity in Kollam District.

Kudumbashree had launched the idea of launching a Reverse Osmosis Plant to produce bottled drinking water, as part of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission Project being implemented in Kerala. The bottled drinking water is named as ‘Venad Purified Water’. The public need to give only a nominal charge of just Rs 25 for 20 litres of Venad Purified Water. The total investment of the project is Rs 25.5 lakhs which is met from LSG fund, bank loan and Kudumbashree financial assistance. The other RO plants are located at Kozhikode Old Corporation office, Malappuram Corporation, Kasaragod Municipality, and Kochi.

Soccer Shree, the Quiz Competition conducted by Kudumbashree exclusively for Kudumbashree women adds to the Football fever. World Club Foot Ball was the theme for the quiz competition. The Quiz competition was conducted on 22 June 2018 in connection with the Reading Week observance. The Competition was conducted to ensure the participation of common women in celebrating the World Cup Foot Ball Championship. The competition underlined the fact that 'Nothing is impossible to women'. The programme envisioned to encourage the reading habits and interest in sports activities among women as well. Smt. EP. Latha, Mayor, Kannur Corporation inaugurated the Soccer Shree Quiz Competition. K. Jisha and Sumangala from Peralassery CDS came first in the Soccer Shree Quiz Competition. K.Shijina and O.Nimina from Mattannoor CDS came second and Shanthakumari and Haritha of Keezhaloor CDS came in third place.

Only one team per CDS was allowed to participate in the competition. Micro Enterprises Consultants, Kudumbashree Accounts & Audit Service Society Members, Gender Resource Persons, Balasabha Resource Persons etc were considered for participating in the Quiz Competition. As the participation was beyond expectation, it is sure that the upcoming seasons would be more colourful.

Collegiate Education Department joins hands with Kudumbashree Mission offering job opportunities for Kudumbashree Women. The Kudumbashree women are entering into new horizons as the Collegiate Education Department, Government of Kerala entrusted Kudumbashree Mission for the house keeping, cooking and sanitation jobs in the Arts & Science colleges and hostels in Kerala. As per the order, 54 women across the state has got job opportunities.

It is during when the strength of non teaching staff at the Arts and Science colleges and hostels in the state was found inadequate, the Collegiate Education Department decided to entrust the Kudumbashree Women for the same. Government of Kerala has issued order advising the Principals of the Colleges to sign MoU with the concerned District Mission Coordinators for assigning the house keeping, cooking and sanitation works at the Colleges and hostels. As per the MoU, Kudumbashree will provide the units for meeting the needs of the colleges as per the request from the principals. Uniform and ID card would be provided and the quality of their work would b ensured by Kudumbashree through CDS and respective Assistant District Mission Coordinators. The Colleges would provide the space for the units and also arrange the rest room and sanitation facilities for the unit members as well. The cleaning equipment, cleaning materials and other utensils would also be supplied by the college.

Government Model Hostel, Attingal and Government College from Thiruvannathapuram, Kollam Government College and BJM Government College from Kollam, Government Polytechnic from Kottayam, Government College, Kattappana from Idukki, Maharajas College and Law College from Ernakulam, Government Arts College, Kuzhinjapara from Palakkad, PMGC , Chalakkudy from Thrissur, Thunchan Memorial Government College and Mankada Arts and Science College from Malappuram, Manathavady Government College from Wayanad, Manjeswaram Govinda Pai College and EKNayanar Memorial Govt College, Elerithatt from Kasargode are the identified colleges.

Kudumbashree women units from the respective districts would be identified for the same. The lack of non staff teaching in the colleges and hostels were creating inconvenience for the students and it was a solution to this issue, that the Government issued the order. Cleaning staff, sanitation worker, sweeper, night watch man,cook, house keeping, hostel cook, lab attender, security and matron are posts on which the job opportunities are offered for the Kudumbashree Women.

Shri. Mohammed Yunus,  the Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of micro credit and micro finance interacted with the staff of Kudumbashree Mission at a programme held at Secretariat on 26 June 2018.

He had a detailed conversation with the Kudumbashree Misson staff on social business. He described in detail about the evolution of Grameen bank and how he turned the unemployed youth into successful entrepreneurs through micro credit and micro finance. He said that the real solution is to let young people express their creative capacity. Nowadays the Business Schools are training  their scholars to achieve interest only; it should be changed and they should be trained in a balanced system which consists of social entrepreneurship as well as profit motive. Organisations like Kudumbashree Mission have relevance in this scenario.Then only we can completely eradicate unemployment.

We had created more job creators than job seekers. Muhammad Yunus said.

The selfishness and selflessness of the younger generation should be abolished. In today's world bankers are always working for rich people. Micro credits entered into the scenario like a 'Bonsai' which have all the features of a giant tree. He added. He also described the relevance of communicating equality, social responsibility and social entrepreneurship  among the society. He also appreciated the Micro Enterprises Programme and Animal Birth Control Programme of Kudumbashree Mission.

Shri. T. K. Jose IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department,Government of Kerala welcomed and introduced the Nobel Laureate to the gathering. Shri. Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission, Shri Binu Francis, Shri. Dathan C.S, Smt. Niranjana N.S, Shri. Nikesh Kiran, Shri. Pramod K.V, Smt. Amrida G.S (Programme Officers) Smt. Jayanthi Narendran, Public Relations Officer Shri. Ajith Chacko, Chief Operating Officer , NRLM, Dr Praveen C.S, Chief Operating Officer, DDUGKY also attended the programme.

From now onwards wives of Migrant Labourers will also become the part of Kudumbashree Mission. The first of its kind Neighbourhood  Group, exclusively for the wives of migrant labourers was launched at Edayar, an industrial area in Kochi. The NHG came into being during  March 2018 when Kudumbashree’s Kadungalloor Community Development Society (CDS) registered the NHG as Mahalakshmi NHG. The group consists of 16 house wives who hails from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They had undergone a 32 day stitching training under Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission and  would soon set up two stitching units. The units would be registered as startup micro enterprises named Bismillah and Lakshmi.

The NHG came into being as a means to draw the children of migrant labourers in the region to the Government High School, Binanipuram, where the District Administration of Ernakulam piloted a project named Roshni, to bypass the language barrier to educate these children. As it was found to be good to train their mothers in stitching, which could then be turned into a livelihood opportunity, a training programme was organised for them, even though language was a main barrier in training the women. 

The group of 16 received their certificates in basic tailoring on 20 June 2018. Smt. Abida Khatum, hailing from Bihar is the President of the NHG and Bismillah startup unit. Most of them were doing household chores till then. They are looking forward to support their families better and also plans to attract more housewives to join the group. Kudumbashree District Mission of Ernakulam is confident of empowering them and making positive strides in inclusiveness.

By issuing Identity cards Kerala became the first state in the country to ensure the proper inclusion of street vendors in the society. For rehabilitating the street vendors in a proper and effective way new programmes are to be implemented. And as a part of this it was decided to extend skill training to selected 1000 street food vendors. The training programme is being conducted as part of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). It has been designed to provide RPL training to 1000 street vendors this year.During the first phase 200 street vendors from 10 Urban local Bodies would be trained.

The training of the first batch was started at Kottayam District on 20 June 2018. Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), the pioneer institute for tourism and hospitality in Kerala would extend 12 hour training to street vendors in Urban Local Bodies of the state under National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) Scheme. In the proposed training programme the participants will be exposed to the aspects such as food safety & hygiene, procurement of quality raw material, food contamination (physical, chemical and microbial), high risk foods, cross contamination, importance of safe food, quality of water/ice to be used, cleaning sanitation of utensils, effective waste/garbage disposal, table manners and etiquette, customer relation practices and basics of food safety laws.

On successful completion of the training, Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council (THSC) will issue certificate to the participants. A hand book would also be issued for quick reference along with participation certificate. Prevent outbreaks of food/water-borne diseases from street food vending units, reduce the chances of spoilage of food, ensure quality of street food and health of the customers, effective waste management system for food vending units, understand basic table etiquette, customer handling techniques and enhance business potential of street food vending units, create basic understanding about the food safety laws, rules and regulations among street food vendors, brand the street food vendors in Kerala under a single brand- Kudumbashree etc are the proposed benefits of the training programme.

A large number of street food outlets are functioning across 93 urban pockets in the state. Local flavors are being served at such roadside outlets at cheapest prices. Food borne illnesses of microbial origin are major health problem associated with such street foods and its major causes are lack of proper knowledge in safe food handling, lack of clean environment, sanitation and hygiene, mode of food display, food service, hand washing, sources of raw materials, and use of potable water. If adequate measures are followed it can be prevented. It is highly imperative to give basic exposure to street food vendors about food safety & hygiene, effective waste disposal, table manners & etiquette, customer relation practices and laws, rules & regulations for food safety. It was on the realization of the prevailing situation that the training was planned.

DDU-GKY candidate from Idukki district received the highest salary ever in the placement history of DDU-GKY Kerala. It is Shri. Akhil Babu, 4th batch candidate of ITES trade at Idukki Centre who made this hilarious achievement. Hailing from Kannur, with the qualification of Plus Two, Akhil joined the Idukki Centre of DDU-GKY. Quess Corp was the Project Implementing Agency in which he attended the training. After the successful completion of the course, he joined Eureka Forbes Limited, Kottayam as customer sales specialist (vacuum cleaner) with basic salary of Rs. 8,000/- during November 2017. While he joined, he had to face high competitions from the antagonists. With his sheer confidence in himself and hard working he overcame them and made a milestone in his career life by receiving an additional incentive of Rs. 1,08,757/-. He sold more than 140 products so he got selected as a silver club member in the company. Now he is confident to move forward to achieve the goals. He is grateful towards DDU-GKY for placing him in such a position in which he could excel his best.

DDU-GKY, 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.

Adding the third canteen on to the list, Kudumbashree Kannur District Mission have been now running three canteens at various campuses of Kannur University. A new Kudumbashree Canteen unit was opened at Mangattuparamb Campus of Kannur University recently. Smt. E.P Omana, President, Kalliasseri Grama Panchayath inaugurated the canteen unit on 18 June 2018.

One canteen had been working in the main campus of Kannur University at Thavakkara from February 2018 and later from May 2018 onwards yet another canteen started working at the Thalassery Campus at Palayad.

Kudumbashree Cafeshree is providing healthy meals and have completely avoided artificial colours and other artificial taste makers. Meals, tea and snacks are made available at the canteen at reasonable rates. Only trained members are working in these canteen units. So far more than 30 enterprises in catering-hotel sectors has been working under Kudumbashree. To make avail the students and public, non adulterated food is the main aim of the canteen units. It also aims at developing a healthy food culture among the students and public thereby inspiring them to live in touch with the nature.