'Bhakshya Suraksha Bhavanam' (Food Security Home), the programme that was launched to attain self sufficiency in vegetable production is successfully progressing in every districts of Kerala. The programme promotes vegetable farming among Kudumbashree Women in NHG level and make avail the cultivated vegetables to the needy as well. Training will be given to those who enroll in the 'Bakshya Suraksha Bhavanam' programme. Best quality seeds will also be distributed to them.

The programme was started all over Kerala in August 2017 (Chingam 1). Initially NHG members of 6 lakh families were given training and seeds were distributed. Those families had harvested vegetables several times till now. As per the present statistics, about 7 lakhs of families are pursuing farming in this manner. The families that cultivate vegetables under this programme are regarded as ' Bhakshya Suraksha Bhavanam' ( Food Security Homes). Specially designed logo stickers are distributed to each and every families. It's planned to create 20 lakhs of Food Security Homes in the next phase of this programme.

Special NHGs like elderly NHGs are also taking part in this programme. The NHG members who wish to be part of it are divided into different groups, each consisting of 4 members. NHGs should register at the concerned CDS by remitting an amount of Rs.10. It is also advised to renew the registration in every season. Each groups should cultivate at least in a minimum of 3 cents of land and they can cultivate in up to 25 cents of land. If the group intend to do grow bag farming, each member should cultivate at least 5 varieties of vegetables in a minimum of 20 grow bags.

Master farmers and Master farming trainers will give training to the groups on the topics such as the need of farming, tips to maintain the cultivation successfully, kitchen waste disposal and making of bio fertilizers etc. Every member is given a packet of high quality seeds worth Rs.20, from Kudumbashree Units, Vegetable & Fruit promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK), Kerala Agriculture University and other government organisations.

With the aim of making the society women friendly, Kudumbashree Gender Resource Centres have started functioning in different districts. 99 Resource Centres are functioning across the state. To motivate the skills of women in various sectors and thereby helping them to secure a place of their own in the society, is one of the aims of Gender Resource centres. These centres will give assistance to women and girls who are in distress.

Presently, 29 Gender Resource centres are functioning in Ernakulam district itself. 14 and 7 centres function in Thrissur and Idukki respectively. 6 Gender Resource centres each function in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Districts. 5 centres each function in Alappuzha, Kannur, Palakkad, Kazargode and Kottayam. 4 centres are functioning in Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta. There are 3 gender Resource Centres in Wayanad and one centre function in Malappuram. Its planned to start Gender Resource Centres throughout the state.

Gender Resource centre also aims to give trainings to induce gender awareness among each and everyone in the society.The activities of Gender Help Desk are also coordinated by Gender Resource Centres in LSGD level. Kudumbashree Community Counsellors at the Gender resource centres will give services like Pre Marital Counselling also.

It also acts as a library that facilitate studies ad researches on various subjects. Internship Facility is also arranged in Gender Resource Centres. It also acts as an information centre that gives information on various programmes of different government departments.

Following the success in extending the state of the art facility management services to Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Kudumbashree Mission took up the facility management services of Ernakulam Vytilla Mobility Hub also.

From this month onwards, 20 membered Kudumbashree group would take up the facility management services of Vytilla Mobility Hub. Kudumbashree women would take care of the services like house keeping and gardening sectors there.

Kudumbashree Mission -Kochi Metro Rail Limited association had made a milestone by being the first women run metro in the world. Kudumbashree Mission is the facility management partner of Kochi Metro Rail Limited. On following the notable and successful implementation of the services provided in Kochi Metro Rail Limited, that Kudumbashree Mission is entrusted with the facility management services of Kochi Vytila Mobility Hub.

One Day State Level training Programme was conducted for the beneficiaries of Kerala Chicken from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Districts was held at Kudumbashree State Mission Office, Thiruvananthapuram on 18 November 2017. Dr N.N Sasi, Director, Animal Husbandry Department inaugurated the programme. Initially the programme will be carried out in 10 farms each from both districts.

Kudumbashree, the pioneer in introducing collective group efforts by women self help groups have stepped in to contain the prevailing uncertainty in broiler production in Kerala. Kerala Chicken is launched to make avail good quality poison free chicken to the people of Kerala. Best variety chicks would be supplied by KEPCO in nominal rates to Kudumbashree Women and buy them back giving reasonable price. It is planned to start 5000 such broiler chicken units of Kudumbashree. 274 units will be started in the first phase. According to Dr N.N Sasi, Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Kerala Chicken will be antibiotic free certified and it will be sold by starting special centres. It is estimated that in the coming years, Kerala will be attain self sufficiency in Broiler Chicken Production through Kerala Chicken.

The main objectives of the programme include to provide a steady income for Kudumbashree members through broiler chicken production, to ensure safe and clean chicken meat to consumers at reasonable price and to provide a steady and non fluctuating market price for broiler chicken. By this project Kudumbashree envisages to provide safe, clean and healthy meat to the consumers and will ensure fair pricing of broiler chicken industry.

Dr K. Shaiju, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission welcomed the gathering. Dr Vinod John, KEPCO, Dr Gopa Kumar, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Dr Thankachan, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Dr Sreekumar, Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Dr A.L Anjali, Manager, Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation and Dr Salini, Manager, Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation lead the training programme. Dr L. Ravikumar, ABC Expert, Kudumbashree Mission extended Vote of Thanks.

Four day training for Coastal volunteers has been kick started at St Gregorious Renewal Centre, Thiruvananthapuram on 17 November 2017. The training scheduled to be held from 17-20 November 2017 was inaugurated by Shri. S Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission.

The Four day training will include various sessions to improve the work of the coastal volunteers. Lectures will be given on Kudumbashree and its perspectives, Gender and Balasabha, various features and other aspects of Micro Finance and MIS, Micro Enterprises, Marketing, Asraya, Buds and BRC etc.

Activities and audio visual sessions were also arranged to make them interact with one another. To help develop a purpose of life, 'Know Yourself' session was also aranged for the Participants, which would enable them to identify their basic emotions, strengths, weakness, values and attitudes.

The participants will be given an opportunity to face crowd as well.Training will be given to develop necessary presentation skills. Yoga and Creative Thinking sessions are also arranged for their spiritual and Creative growth. Lectures for improving bthe communication skills is also scheduled. Field visits are also arranged.

70 coastal volunteers from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kazargode took part in the training programme. Certificates will be distributed to the coastal volunteers on the successful completion of the training programme.The training will come to ans end on 20 November 2017.

Kudumbashree's Neighborhood Groups in the rural areas are going digital. The procedures regarding the digitalisation of NHGs are progressing in every districts across the state. So far, data entry works of around 1600 NHGs have been completed. By this digitalisation, the scope of Information Technology could be utilised even in the NHG level. Kudumbashree uses the Transaction Based SHG Digital Accounting System (TBSDAS) framed by National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for this purpose.

By using this software, the financial transactions in NHGs could be made flawless. It will also reduce the work load of the concerned people and the NHG transactions and activities could be made more transparent. It is planned to complete the data entry works of the remaining NHGs by this financial year itself.

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has allocated Rs.8.65 Crore for the digitalisation process of Kudumbashree NHGs. For the smooth running of digitalisation, training was given to Resources Persons from all districts.

In the next phase of digitalisation, online based financial transactions will be made accessible to all NHG members, which would enable them to avail or repay their loans even without visiting banks.

On attaining 100% digitalisation, NHG members will be able to observe the activities in one's own NHG using their own smartphones.

Officials from Kudumbashree Mission attended the 13th International Training Programme on 'Entrepreneurship development among rural women' under Feed The Future India Triangular Training (FTF ITT) - International Training Programme held at Uganda. The 10 day training workshop was officially launched by Ms. Rose Mary Sseninde, State Minister for Primary Education at St. Augustine Leadership training Centre, Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda on 14 November 2017. Kudumbashree had been invited as a guest for the International Training Programme scheduled to be held from 13-22 November 2017.

The training programme is a collaborative undertaking involving the Government of India, United States of America and Government of Uganda. The programme is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - India and Government of India (GoI). The training is designed to train Rural Women, Rural Development / Agricultural professionals from Uganda.

Kudumbashree will give training on the topic 'Entrepreneurship development in agriculture sector among rural women'. Presentations will be given on Entrepreneurial Development, different programmes on agriculture, production of value added products, relevance of forming consortiums etc. Kudumbashree's expertise in giving Entrepreneurial Development will help them in extending training.

Kudumbashree had given 15 day training to 26 senior officials of agriculture, irrigation and animal husbandary departments of few african countries during March 2017. The training was conducted under the leadership of National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management, Hyderabad and U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID). It is in continuation with that training Kudumbashree officials were invited to Uganda.

A 26 member team from Liberia, Uganda, Ghana, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Malawi, Kenya and Mosambia had visited Kerala as part of their training organised by National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management, Hyderabad and USAID. Kudumbashree had entrusted Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) for giving training to this team. It's on getting motivated by the training received at Kerala, that Kudumbashree had been invited to Uganda.

Mr. George Muteekanga, Director, St. Augustine Institute Mr. Robinson Nsumba Lyazi, Director Basic & Secondary Education, Government of Uganda, Dr. Ravi Nandi, Project Manager, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Shri. Harikishore IAS, Executive Director Kudumbashree and Shri Bharath Bhushan, Second Secretary to Indian High Commissioner of Uganda also attended the programme.

Kudumbashree set out to excel in India International Trade Fair, which is scheduled to be held from 14-27 November 2017 at Pragati Maidan with around 22 countries and 3,000 domestic and foreign companies as participants. Organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), the nodal trade promotion agency of the Government of India, the premier event was inaugurated by Shri. Ram Nath Kovind, Hon'ble President of India on 14 November 2017.

Kudumbashree will make maximum out of this opportunity. The Kerala Pavalion set up at IITF 2017 was inaugurated by Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Government of Kerala. 10 product stalls were set up at Saras India International Trade Fair.14 Entrepreneurs from all districts across Kerala made their representation at IITF. One Product Stall was set up at Kerala Pavilion, which displays and sells the Best Kudumbashree products from all districts across Kerala.

In line with the theme start up India, Kudumbashree presented the social start ups that Kudumbashree women have ventured into to cater the social needs and to address the social issues.These social startups address the social issues in an entrepreneurial way and are completely managed and run by women. It have high scalability and employment generation. As per the definition of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, any business model which has high potential of employment generation and scalability could be regarded as start ups. Kudumbashree Mission presented 4 women managed social start ups that address the severe social issues faced by Kerala society like Animal birth Control enterprises, Sujalam dig Well recharging, She Lodges and Kudumbashree Geriatric Care. Theme Stalls depicting these was also set up along with Start UP Village Entrepreneurship Programme. 2 counters of Cafe Kudumbashree was opened at IITF by 3 Units from Kottayam, Malappuram and Ernakulam at Kudumbashree Food Court.

IITF is a major tourist attraction and lakhs of people visit the fair every year. This annual event provides a common platform for the manufacturers, traders, exporters and importers. The fair displays comprises a wide range of products and services including automobiles, coir products, jute, textiles, garments, household appliances, kitchen appliances, processed food, beverages, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cosmetics, bodycare & health care products, telecommunication, power sector, electronic sector, furniture, home furnishings, sporting goods, toys, and engineering goods.

Ever since its inception in 1980, IITF has been evolved as a major event for the business community. The event is held between 14–27 November every year at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India. "Start-up Standup", is the theme of 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2017.The partner country for the fair in 2017 is Vietnam, and the focus country is Kyrgyzstan. IITF will come to an end on 27 November 2017.

38 Tribal youth in Attappady get Job placement through Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY). The programme made its interventions in Attappady Tribal areas from 29 May 2017 onwards. The project aims at the social and economic uplift of them.

70 people had joined in 2 trades like Assistant plumber and Domestic Electrician. 64 out of them had completed skill training. 26 out of them completed their training in plumbing and 12 of them in Electrician trade. Training was also given on soft skills, English and computer skills etc. The classes were completed in 104 working days. The courses are accredited by National Council for Vocational Training.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure of DDU-GKY programme, 832 hours of training was given in electrician trade and 695 hours of training in Plumbing Trade. The training of the second batch of students was also started. The training was being was conducted at Kerala Institute of Local Administration at Agaly, Attappady.

Kudumbashree envisages to give training to 52000 rural youth from 2016 to 2019 through DDU-GKY. Training had been given training in 55 job sectors through DDU-GKY. So far, 20,493 people had received job training and 14,458 had got job placements. It is for the first time that Kudumbashree is giving skill training in tribal areas.

Kudumbashree Women made scintillating performance by sharing their incomparable yet inspiring success stories at a programme organised by Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) associating with Kudumbashree Mission and Industry Training Department at Mascot Hotel Thiruvananthapuram on 9 November 2017.

4 Kudumbashree Women who had 'harvested' success by starting Micro Enterprise units shared their experiences during the programme. Smt J. Sandhya of K.M food products, Attingal, Smt M.V Bhageerathi of Ammu Food products, Palakkad , Smt. Bindu Aji of Animal birth Control unit, Pathanamthitta and Smt Sindhu Balan of Kudumbashree Matrimony, Thrissur shared their experiences of overcoming the hurdles they faced while attempting an innovative initiative and how they became successful entrepreneurs today. These 4 women had became the centre of attraction of the programme.

The programme was conducted in connection with the National Entrepreneurship Day Celebrations and was inaugurated by Shri T.P Ramakrishnan, Minister for Labour, Government of Kerala, Shri. Tom Jose IAS, Additional Chief Secrtary, Labour and Skills, Government of Kerala, Shri. S. Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission, Dr. Sreeram Venkitaraman IAS, Director, Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence, Shri M.A George Francis, Joint Director, Employment Department, Shri P.K Madhavan, Additional Director, Industry Training Department also attended the programme. Praveen Parameswar,CEO, Thoughts Academy, emerging Organization Development Strategist was the moderator of the programme.