From now onwards, more benefits would be given on the insurance coverage for Kudumbashree NHG members. Kudumbashree is implementing the Insurance Programme for the NHG members in association with the State Insurance Department and the Life Insurance Corporation. Now, one more benefit is added in the 'Jeevan Deepam Oruma' Group Insurance Programme for the NHG members for the 2022-23 financial year. Coverage of Rs 25,000 would be received as benefit for the permanent disability caused due to accidents.

The beneficiaries of the 'Jeevan Deepam' Group Insurance Programme for the the 2021-22 financial year, who are between 18 and 75 years of age can become part of the Insurance Programme for the 2022-23 financial year. Those who are interested in becoming part of this Insurance Programme can make their registrations and the date for making their registrations will be informed later.

Rs. 345 is the Insurance Premium Amount. If the members between 18-50 years of age expire, they will get death coverage of Rs 2 lakhs and if those between 51 - 59 years of age expire, they will get Rs. 1 lakh death coverage. Those between 60-65 years of age will get Rs. 20,000 death coverage and if members between 66-70 years of age die, they will get death coverage of Rs. 15,000. If members between 71 - 75 years of age expire, they will get Rs. 10,000 as death coverage of the Insurance. If accident death is occurred coverage of Rs. 50,000 will also be given.

The CDS Elections of the Kudumbashree Three Tier System in 8 districts which were postponed due to the restrictions imposed following the spread of covid-19 pandemic, is being held on 18 February 2022. The selected CDS Governing Committee would take charge on 21 February 2022. The CDS elections at Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Wayanad and Palakkad districts, which were postponed would be held on cluster basis, strictly following the covid protocols. The NHG, ADS elections in these districts had already been completed.

The CDS Elections were supposed to be completed on 25 January 2022 and the new CDS Governing Committee was to take charge on 26 January 2022. But when the spread of the covid-19 pandemic increased the districts were divided into A, B and C categories and restrictions were imposed. Following that the CDS elections were postponed. The CDS elections in 6 districts- Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod, which were not included in B and C categories were completed as per the plan, following the covid protocols.

Kudumbashree is extending the opportunity to avail free skill training as part of Jal Jeevan Mission. Jal Jeevan Mission is the project being implemented to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural areas. Now the opportunity of availing free skill training is being extended to Kudumbashree members or their family members to become part of the Jal Jeevan Mission activities.

The skill training is being extended by association with the State Water Authority and Kerala Academy for Skill Excellence (KASE). The skill training will be extended based on a clear syllabus which would equip them to take up the work in four sectors such as plumber, pipe fitter, mason and electrician works. It is envisaged to extend 10 days skill training to about 1000 persons. The training centres would be Kerala Academy for Skill Excellence Centres and Government ITIs. The Water Authority will give Special License to those who have successfully completed the training. Those who successfully complete the training will get the opportunity to give drinking water pipe connection, construction activities, renovation works and maintenance and repair works as part of Jal Jeevan Mission. Those Kudumbashree members who are interested in becoming part of the free skill training being extended as part of Jal Jeevan Mission may contact the respective CDSs or District Mission offices.

The members of the Multi Task Team of Kudumbashree (ARISE) had taken up and implemented various works such as giving pipe connection at Wayanad, Kasaragod, Kottayam, Idukki and Thrissur districts as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Kudumbashree had also received the opportunity to function as the Implementing Support Agency that extends help the Project Implementing Agencies of Jal Jeevan Mission at 258 panchayaths. 162 persons from 10 districts were extended one week long first phase training.

'Amrutham Nutrimix' of Kudumbashree has bagged the Glenmark Nutrition Award for 2022. The Glenmark Nutrition Award is organized in partnership with the World Food Programme of the United Nations. The award is given for taking up and implementing programmes and activities for undertaking exceptional efforts through their health initiatives or programs to reduce the impact of malnutrition in society irrespective of rural and urban areas.

Kudumbashree has succeeded in producing and distributing the 'Amrutham Nutrimix', the nutrition food which is being given to the children of 6 months to 3 years of age, at the Anganawadis in the state. By effectively implementing the same, Kudumbashree was able to ensure best nutrition for more than 5 lakh children in the state. This International Award was given to Kudumbashree for the same. The Award includes a cash award of Rs 1 lakh and certificate.

A total of 241 units under Kudumbashree are producing and distributing 'Amrutham Nutrimix'. There is a production of 18000 metric ton every year. Fortification for increasing the nutrition value of the Nutrimix and the Grading to increase the performance and efficiency of the units was also done. This programme is being implemented in Kerala through Kudumbashree as per the 'Take Home Ration Strategy' (THRS) of the Central Government, associating with the Women and Child Development Department, Local Self Government Department and the Food Corporation of India. Mr. Sheryl Pinto, Director, Glenmark Pharmaceutical and Glenmark Foundation announced the award at the 'RISE World Summit 2022', which was held online on 5 February 2022.

The objective of the Award is to support institutions and organizations who have worked on the lines of Innovation, Impact, Inspiration and Collaboration in improving the dietary diversity among women and children, adolescent girls and vulnerable groups from the communities, using innovative strategies for implementation and adoption. The Awards were given in three categories viz., Urban NGOs, Rural NGOs and Open Category. Kudumbashree has bagged the Award in the Open Category. The production and distribution of Amrutham Nutrimix was ensured under the leadership of Kudumbashree amidst the covid lockdown periods without any fail.

Sales of Rs 2 crores was recorded from the 'Karuthal' campaign which was launched by Kudumbashree to support the Kudumbashree entrepreneurs and Joint Liability Groups (JLG) who were in crisis due to the spread of covid-19 pandemic.

Kudumbashree started the Karuthal Campaign from 2020-21 financial year onwards to encourage entrepreneurs and JLG  members (farming group members), to rejuvenate the enterprises that had faced issues and to arrange more marketing opportunities. In short, the activity of taking the products of entrepreneurs and JLGs in the form of kits is called 'Karuthal Campaign'.

The 'Karuthal Campaign' of 2021-22 financial year which was started during last November is also getting completed now. The campaign was not conducted at Pathanamthitta, Wayanad and Kannur districts. Kudumbashree was able to make a sales of Rs. 2,20,59,650 from the rest of the districts, through this campaign, until now. 65,354 kits were also distributed. The activities as part of the campaign is progressing in some areas.

The District Missions collect the price list of the products from the entrepreneurs in their respective districts. This information is then passed to the CDSs. The CDSs would enquire about the number of kits each NHGs would need and prepare a requirement list and hand it over to the District Mission. Based on this requirement, District Missions collect the products from entrepreneurs, arrange them in kits and bring the same to the CDSs. Whereas, the vegetable kits for distribution ard prepared by the CDSs themselves.

The CDSs deliver these kits to the NHGs as per the requirement. Each NHG would pay the amount of the total kits they bought, from their internal savings to the CDSs. Whereas, the NHG members would pay the amount of the kits at NHGs within a maximum of 20 installments.

Various activities as part of 'Sthreepaksha Navakeralam', the state level awareness programme being organized under the leadership of Kudumbashree against dowry and atrocities against women is progressing. Through this activity, Kudumbashree aim at giving awareness to the society about the atrocities women are facing and thereby to bring in a mind shift among the general public about dowry and atrocities against women.

Efforts are ongoing to take these awareness activities to all sectors of the society through Auxiliary Groups, the three tier system of Kudumbashree that includes NHGs, ADSs and CDSs, Youth Organizations, local-social-political parties etc. This includes the first phase of the training focusing on Auxiliary Groups, Poster Campaigns and Publicity through Reel Videos.

The Training Programmes in the Auxiliary Groups are being organized as per the three specially prepared modules (Dowry and Atrocities, Gender & Sex, Laws in the Service Sector). The discussion on the first module have already been held at 9000 Auxiliary Groups in the state. The Poster Campaign had already been completed at 815 CDSs. Everyone is actively participating in the Social Media Publicity using techniques such as Reels. Three people each from every district have been extended training for the Cultural Procession as part of the programme.

Programmes such as Two Wheeler Vehicle Rallies, Webinar, Wall Painting Campaign, Publicity through Short Films, Signature Campaign, Opinion Survey etc would be held as part of the 'Sthreepaksha Navakeralam' Awareness Programme.

The houses built by Kudumbashree Women Construction Groups for Scheduled Tribe Families of Aralam Panchayath of Kannur district of Kerala were handed over to the beneficiaries on 27 January 2022. The houses are built at Block 9, Aralam Farm, Kannur. Dr. V Sivadasan, MP, Kannur handed over the keys of the three houses built at Aralam Farm to the beneficiaries. Adv. Binoy Kurian, Vice President, District Panchayat, Kannur was the Chief Guest and Shri. K.P Rajesh, President, Aralam Grama Panchayath presided over the function. Smt. Lakshmi Amma, Smt. Bindu and Smt. Santha are the beneficiaries who received the keys of their new houses.

These are the first three houses that are being built for the homeless Scheduled Tribe families in Aralam Panchayath under the leadership of Kudumbashree Women Construction Groups. The houses were constructed jointly two Kudumbashree Women Construction groups in the district namely Jwala Construction Group and Kanal Construction Group. Smt. Cicily Joseph (President), Smt. Nisha Jayaprakash (Secretary), Smt. Bindu Shibin, Smt. Vimala Chandran, Smt. Kumari Subramanian, Smt. Nazeema Rasheed and Smt. Pathumma N.M are the members of the Jwala Construction Group. Whereas, Smt. Aswathy Babu (President), Smt. Pankajakshy K (Secretary), Smt. Safira, Smt. Leela K, Smt. Shaija, Smt. Sreeja, Smt. Sefiya, Smt. Sakeena and Smt. Shahina are the members of the Kanal Construction Group. The houses were completed under the full time supervision of Ms. Nithisha, an M Tech Graduate in Structural Engineering, who is a member of a Kudumbashree family.

Kudumbashree had took up the construction of the houses that are included in the project of Scheduled Tribes Department, Government of Kerala. The average area of the houses are 560 - 580 sqft. Within the next 6 months, construction of 10 more houses would be completed at Aralam. Rs 6 lakhs is the unit cost. Work order has been received for completing the construction of 20 houses. Through this, Kudumbashree aimed at saving the homeless ST families at Aralam from the exploitation of the middlemen in the construction sector. Though it was a tedious task, Kudumbashree was able to achieve the trust of the tribal people. Kudumbashree was able to equip the tribal people to ask questions back to such exploiters. Through such convergence, Kudumbashree Kannur District Mission had succeeded in arranging livelihood for the Women Construction Groups in the district.

As per the new covid restrictions came into being in the state, the CDS elections were held at selected districts viz., Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod as per the covid restrictions, on 25 January 2022. The newly selected CDS Committee took over the charge in the districts on 26 January 2022 where the elections were held. The CDS Elections in the remaining 8 districts would be completed once the covid situations in the respective districts would improve. Earlier, Kudumbashree ADS Election in the state had been successfully completed maintaining the covid protocols.

The CDS Elections in the selected districts were held following the covid protocols. The Executive Director of Kudumbashree had issued the guidelines regarding the same on 15 January 2022. Earlier, the Government of Kerala had given approval to conduct the elections to the three tier system to identify the new office bearers, following the covid protocols.

The elections were conducted at open spaces and at halls that had sufficient air circulation. It was also ensured that the social distancing was maintained at the areas where the elections were conducted. All General Body members wore N95 masks or double surgical masks during the elections. It was also ensured that sanitizers were used during regular intervals. Also, sanitizers were made available at the areas where the elections were held & necessary arrangements were made for washing the hands with soap and water.

To avoid crowds at the CDS elections, ADS office bearers from 5 wards each attended the elections at a time and they selected the CDS Office Bearers. For this, special time slots were given to each ward. Covid protocol was also ensured at the NHG level elections and the ADS Elections which were held across the state during 7-13 January 2022 and 16-21 January 2022, respectively.

Amidst the rise of Covid-19 cases in the state, an online awareness class series on Covid-19 has been started under the leadership of Kudumbashree associating with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and UNICEF, for Kudumbashree members and the general public. The first session of the series was held on 21 January 2022. Dr. Samuel Koshy, State President, IMA, Kerala State Branch inaugurated the programme. The topic dealt on the first of the series was 'From Delta till Omicron'. Dr. Soniya Suresh, Consultant Physician, VSM Hospital, Mavelikkara, Alappuzha was the faculty who dealt with the session.

The classes were live streamed through the Facebook pages and YouTube channels of KILA and Kudumbashree. The viewers may also ask their doubts and get it clarified from the experts themselves. Kudumbashree and IMA had also conducted online series during the second wave of the spread of covid-19 pandemic. Those previous classes are also available in these pages and channels. The next session of the series will be held on next friday.

It is expected that these awareness classes about covid, organized with best convergence and partnership would reach out to all people in Kerala and it would help them in the treatments of covid patients without getting panicked and will be of great help to all. The programme is ongoing receiving good responses from among the public.

Dr. Joseph Benaven delivered the welcome speech. Dr. A. V Jayakrishnan, Secretary, IMA, gave an introduction to the project. Dr. Joy Elamon, Director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) and Ms. Sindhu, State Programme Manager, Kudumbashree paid their felicitations. Dr. R. C Sreekumar, Chairman, IMA Committee in Medical Education was the moderator of the programme.

As part of the Covid Prevention Activities, Online Training is also being organized for Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Ward Committee Members are also being held under the leadership of Local Self Government Department, Health and Family Welfare Department, Women and Child Development Department, Kudumbashree and KILA.

Kudumbashree Mission has been publishing online poster series on the home treatment of covid-19. The posters are shared through the various social media handles of Kudumbashree. It deals with the points that should be taken care of during the home treatment of covid-19. The posters were shared upto the bottom level of the three tier system of Kudumbashree, all across the state. The Kudumbashree members and the public are sharing the posters and are taking the same to maximum number of people.

The topics dealt include notes to covid-19 patients, the points the care takers should note while wearing the masks, notes to the caretakers on cleaning their hands, the points caretakers should note if they have came in contact with the covid-19 patient, notes on home treatment of covid-19 patients, notes to the asymptomatic covid-19 patients, when should the covid-19 patients should seek medical help, when should the covid-19 patients put an end to their home quarantine.

Kudumbashree had also been preparing various posters in connection with the Covid Prevention Campaign and also as per the guidelines issued by the Executive Director to spread awareness to the ADSs and CDSs on the background of the Kudumbashree elections which are proceeding as the covid cases are rising in the state.