A Free Mega Job Fair is proposed to be held at Perinthalmanna Municipality of Malappuram on 30 October 2022. The Mega Job Fair is organized jointly by  Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission and Perinthalmanna Municipality with more than 2000 job opportunities  The fair will be held at Boys Higher Secondary School, Perinthalmanna  from 9.30 am to 3 pm.

Eligible job seekers from 10th class onwards can participate in this job fair. Spot registration will be done. No registration fee is charged for the job fair. Given below is the link of Vacancy Guide with the details of companies participating in the Job Expo and the vacancies available. 
https://online.fliphtml5.com/dkthq/udod/#p=1

About 62 companies are participating in the job fair and the aspirants should keep the following points in mind.
1) A candidate will be allowed to attend a maximum of three interviews per company.
2) Candidates must bring 3 copies of their CV, copies of educational qualification certificates, copies of work experience certificates and 3 copies of passport size photograph while coming to the job fair.

Kudumbashree units record sales of Rs. 26 Lakhs and bags Two Awards at the Gurugram Saras Mela. Kudumbashree Entrepreneurs came back from Gurugram of Haryana to Kerala after making such a great accomplishment. Kudumbashree had eight product display/ marketing stalls and four stalls in the food court supervised by Kudumbashree NRO (National Resource Organization) as part of the Aajeevika Saras Mela organized by the Ministry of Rural Development at Leisure Valley Park in Gurugram from 7 to 23 October 2022.

The Kudumbashree Entrepreneurs earned Rs. 17.90 lakhs from the sale of products and Rs. 8.10 lakhs from providing good local Kerala food. They made a total sales of Rs. 26 lakhs! Kudumbashree Entrepreneurs also bagged Award for the Best Display and Marketing Stall and Award for the Best Cafe Stall in the Food Court.

Shreyas unit from Idukki district which sold spices won the Award for the Best Display and Marketing Stall. Whereas Lakshya unit of Transgender group from Ernakulam district which prepared various kinds of juices won the Award for the Best Cafe Stall in the Food Court. A total of 17 states including Kerala had participated in the Gurugram Saras Mela.

Kudumbashree won the Award for the Best Stall in the Exhibition section of the 'Indian Urban Housing Conclave 2022' organized by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs at Rajkot, Gujarat. Kudumbashree's stall stood first out of the 152 stalls displayed in various categories such as the Union Ministry, Various States, Industrial Establishments and Builders.

The Kudumbashree exhibition stall was set up based on the concepts of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) implemented by Kudumbashree in Kerala, the integration model of various departments and projects, better community based project implementation and housing construction through Kudumbashree Women Construction Units.

On behalf of Kudumbashree, Dr. Sharmila Mary Joseph IAS, Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala and Shri. Jahamgeer. S, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree jointly received the award from Shri. Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs. Shri. Kuldeep Narayanan IAS, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs also attended the event. Ms. Roshni Pillai and Ms. Bhavana. M, State Programme Managers, Kudumbashree also participated in the function on behalf of Kudumbashree.

Kudumbashree has received two national awards at the PMAY (Urban) Awards 2021 organized by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) project which aims to provide housing to all homeless people in urban areas. Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director,  Kudumbashree received the awards on behalf of Kerala from Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister at the award ceremony held on 19 October 2022 to mark the inauguration of the Indian Urban Housing Conclave at Rajkot, Gujarat.

Shri. Jahamgeer S, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree and Ms. Roshni Pillai and Ms. Bhavana M. Programme Managers, Kudumbashree also participated in the function on behalf of Kudumbashree. Shri. Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs and Shri. Manoj Joshi IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs were present at the award ceremony.

Kerala through Kudumbashree bagged the special award for the 'Best Model of Integration with Schemes including Livelihood Schemes' and the 'Award for the Best Community Oriented Project' under the scheme. Kudumbashree is the nodal agency of the project in Kerala. In Kerala, PMAY (Urban) Scheme is being implemented in 93 ULBs in combination with LIFE Housing Scheme. Based on the best performance in the specified 150 days, the Mattannur Municipal Corporation also won the third place in the municipal level awards at the national level.

The Special Integration Model Award is for the effective integration activities carried out with LIFE Housing Scheme, Ayyankali  Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) implemented by Kudumbashree in urban areas and various schemes of the respective Municipal Corporations.

Kudumbashree provides better employment and livelihood opportunities through convergence by providing them with free job skill training, self-employment support etc along with making the PMAY (U) beneficiary families part of Kudumbashree NHGs. Free gas connection is also provided as part of the central scheme. By making it a part of the Ayyankali Employment Guarantee Scheme, the beneficiary also gets an additional financial assistance of Rs. 27,990 for housing. Apart from this, Kudumbashree is also making interventions such as including all the beneficiaries who have completed construction of houses till 2021 in housing insurance, providing CSR assistance to the needy beneficiaries and providing housing construction materials at low cost were also considered in the award determination.

Kerala is also the state that provides the most assistance in this scheme in the country. In addition to Rs. 1.50 lakhs provided by the Central Government, the State Government and Municipal Corporations also provide Rs. 2.50 lakhs to the beneficiary. Also no beneficiary share is charged after merging the scheme with LIFE Mission.

'Nanga Angadis' of Thirunelly are setting a unique model by relieving the people of the tribal villages of Wayanad district from having to walk for kilometers to buy daily necessities including some tea dust, sugar or other groceries. 'Nanga Angadi' means 'our market' in the Kattunayakan language.

The activities of delivering and distributing daily necessities to the tribal villages were started as part of the Thirunelly Tribal Comprehensive Development Project during the Covid-19 lockdown period. Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission extended full support for the same. Then, as part of the Kudumbashree  Thirunelly Comprehensive Tribal & PVTG Development Project, Nanga Angadis were started in every tribal hamlets to provide them with the necessary household goods.

In the first phase, daily use items from the town were delivered and distributed by the residents of the hamlets to the shops at moderate prices with the help of Kudumbashree officials. One of the residents of the hamlet was given charge of the shop. So it became 'their own market' or 'Nanga Angadi'. Kudumbashree also provides a loan of Rs. 30,000 to start a shop.

Gradually the 'Nanga Angadi' scheme was extended to other tribal areas of Wayanad district. Now there are about 60 Nanga Angadis in the whole district. One 'Nanga Angadi' each is functioning in the 30 hamlets of Thirunelly Panchayath. Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission also aims to form a consortium of these 'Nanga Angadis' and distribute the goods from the public market at affordable prices through shops to the residents of hamlets.

Most 'Nanga Angadis' are run by women belonging to Paniya, Adiya and Kattunayakan communities. Thus Kudumbashree has opened up a means of livelihood to them through 'Nanga Angadis'. This activity which is of great help to the tribal population.

Kudumbashree cafe units are exceling at the food court of Gurugram Saras Mela being held at Gurugram of Haryana. The smell of hot dosa, biryani, unniyappam and fish curry is wafting from Leisure Valley Park of Gurugram. Kudumbashree's own cafe units are behind this.

The entrepreneurs of Kudumbashree are now the stars in the food court set up as part of the Ajeevika Saras Mela being organized here by the Union Ministry of Rural Development from  7 to 23October 2022.  Units from four districts namely Malappuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Ernakulam are participating in the food court representing Kerala.

The stall from Thrissur consists of around twenty types of dosa including beetroot dosa and Chinese dosa. The attraction of the Malappuram stall is various types of sweets like kilikood and unniyappam. The Kozhikode stall offers Ribbon Chicken, Chicken Pathiri, Tapioca and Fish Curry. Transgender entrepreneurs from Ernakulam have prepared different types of juices.

Another special feature is that Kudumbashree NRO (National Resource Organization) is in charge of overseeing the food court in which 17 states including Kerala participate. Products such as textiles, clay pots, bags, curry powders, pickles and jackfruit chips etc produced by Kudumbashree entrepreneurs are also part of the Saras product marketing fair through eight stalls.

Kudumbashree National Regional Workshop was held in connection with 'LokOS' Mobile Application to record information of rural NHGs at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ernakulam on 17 October 2022. Shri. M. B Rajesh, Minister, Local Self Government Department and Excise Department, Government of Kerala inaugurated the workshop. He said that Kudumbashree will take up new challenges in the field of social, economic and women empowerment based on the last 25 years of activity. He added that Kudumbashree is the shining example of women empowerment that Kerala has presented to the world. He was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day national workshop organized on the new mobile application 'LokOS' designed by the Union Ministry of Rural Development to record information and activities related to NHGs, ADSs and CDSs in rural areas.

The 'LokOS' Application is set up in connection with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) scheme implemented in the state through Kudumbashree. The project will be implemented in selected blocks of seven states including Kerala. The workshop will be held from 17 to 20 October 2022 for the Project Implementation Officers and Kudumbashree Resource Persons in these states.

The advantage of the new mobile application is that complete information about NHG activities can be recorded in a short period of time. Activities related to this will be done through selected Resource Persons. The aim is to prepare the NHG office bearers in the rural areas to record information by training them on the mobile application, within two years. 

In the first phase, the project will be implemented on a pilot basis in Mullassery block of Thrissur district. In the second phase, it is planned to start the project in the remaining 15 blocks of the district and in each block of other districts in this financial year itself. In the third phase, the scheme will be extended to the rest of the blocks in other districts.

A section of LokOS Mobile Application is the profile entry of NHGs, its members, Area Development Society (ADS) and Community Development Society (CDS). By linking with Aadhaar, one can avoid the situation of getting membership in multiple NHGs.

The second is the entry of financial transactions. In Kerala, a total of 52 people have been selected as a Resource Person for fifty neighborhood groups for these activities. They will also be given a special ID.

The project will give a new face to the NHGs who currently follow the traditional style of keeping all information including savings and loan repayments in registers and notebooks. The key feature is that once the Mobile Application becomes familiar, all the members will have all the information about the NHG activities at their fingertips. It is also an advantage to be able to know all the information like bank account, savings, loans etc. of each neighborhood group. The new scheme will also be very helpful in real-time assessment of work progress. In this way, it is possible to reduce the work load of the officers who have to keep records of the financial transactions of the NHGs and bring more efficiency and transparency to the operations.

Dr. Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary, Local Self-Government Department presided. Shri. Jafar Malik, Executive Director, Kudumbashree welcomed the gathering. Ms Neeta Kejriwal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Rural Development delivered the introductory speech. Shri. Arjun Venkataraman, Programme Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation delivered the felicitation. Ms. Krishna Priya, Chief Finance Officer, Kudumbashree, Shri. A.S. Sreekanth, Chief Operating Officer (NRLM), Shri. Nirmal S.C, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission  participated in the function. Ms. Preetha M.B, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission delivered the vote of thanks.

Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission has organized 'Uyare' Campaign for the Auxiliary Group Members in the district to lead them to livelihood sectors. The new generation of the district have wholeheartedly welcomed the campaign. The campaign aimed at strengthening the Auxiliary Groups. Kudumbashree Wayanad District team has also started skill training programme to lead the Auxiliary Group members to livelihood sectors. 

As the first step of the campaign meetings of Auxiliary group members were organized at the CDSs in the district and classes were conducted on various income generating activities and livelihood opportunities. Through this, the details of those interested in self-employment and income-based employment were collected. Following this, the first phase of skill training program has been initiated for all Auxiliary group members.

The three-day skill training is organized in association with ASAP. Tata Power is  providing the needed technical assistance. Shri. O.R. Kelu, MLA inaugurated the training programme  held at Skill Park, Government College, Mananthavady, Wayanad.
66 members from various Auxiliary groups of the district are participating in the training. Classes are given on various subjects like Goal Setting and SWOT Analysis, Communication Skills, Life Skills and Digital Skills.

Shri. Justin Baby, President, Mananthavady Block Panchayath presided over the function. Shri. H.B. Pradeep Master, President, Edavaka Grama Panchayath delivered the keynote address. Shri. P.K. Balasubramanian, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission, Shri. Vasu Pradeep, Assistant District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission, Shri. Sreeranj, District Programme Manager, ASAP, Ms. Priya Veerendrakumar, Chairperson, Edavaka CDS and Shri. K.K. Sajeevan, In-Charge, Tata Power also participated in the function.
As part of the campaign, a job fair has also been planned by Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission for the Auxiliary Group members.

Kudumbashree is inviting logo and tagline for the Saras Mela, the national level product marketing fair, which is proposed to be held under the leadership of Kudumbashree, at Kottayam during the second week of December 2022. The selected entries will be given prizes.

The logo and tagline of the Saras Mela, held in the background of Kudumbashree's 25th Anniversary Celebrations, should be in harmony with the district's unique cultural identity, community of women entrepreneurs and regional identity.  The prepared logo and tagline can be sent to the e-mail address, sarasmelakottayam@gmail.com. The last date for submitting the entries is 20 October 2022. For more details, contact - 0481 2302049, 9400550107.

The Saras Fairs are organized jointly by the Central- State Governments as part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), where the products of the entrepreneurs across the country is brought together for marketing. In addition to that 'India Food Court' would also be arranged as part of the Fair, where the cuisines from various states would be available.

Balasabha members from Kasaragod district of Kerala cultivated Marigold flowers, adding more colour to their Mahanavami Celebrations. The Balasabha members of Ward 12 of Chemmanad Panchayath of Kasaragod district are the ones who cultivated the Marigold flowers in 5 cents of barren land.  

From the 5 cents field, the Balasabha members harvested 38 kg of Marigold flowers.18 Balasabha members who belong to 'Pularvela' and 'Nilav' Balasabha Groups are the ones who took the responsibility of the cultivation of flowers and succeeded in cultivating the same. Kudumbashree ADS Office bearers were also with them to extend all kinds of instructions. The harvested flowers were also sold during the Mahanavami celebrations at a rate of Rs 80 per kg. They have decided to use this amount for the various activities of the Balasabha.

Ms. Sufaija Aboobacker, President, Chemmanad Grama Panchayath inaugurated the harvest. Shri. Prakashan Palai, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Kasaragod District Mission received the first sale. Balasabha members, Ms. Mumtaz, CDS Chairperson, Shri. Rajan Poinachi, Balasabha Resource Person and Panchayath Member, CDS and ADS office bearers were also present at the function.