Kudumbashree members are ready to go to any extent to make our state garbage free. A good example of this is the activities of the 'Lightning Army'  at Ramamangalam in Ernakulam district. The  'Lightning Army' of NHG members formed in Ramamangalam Panchayat as part of Kudumbashree's crime mapping and vigilant group activities to prevent violence against women and children is now effectively dealing with the waste problem plaguing the state.

They are making interventions to monitor those who tend to throw garbage on roadsides at night and find them and bring this problem to the attention of the concerned authorities. The members of the 'Lightning Army' of respective wards of Ramamangalam Panchayat are vigilant round the clock, focusing on the places where garbage is dumped.

The operation is done in such a way that those who throw garbage at night are caught with evidence and are brought to the attention of the authorities. Litterers face fines and legal action. The  'Lightning Army'   conducted surveillance from 8 PM to 6 AM at Ward 5 and 13 to prevent those who come to deposit garbage including Ramamangalam riverside, on 12 April 2023. People who came to dump garbage were stopped and the message was given about the ill effects of dumping garbage in the river. And the garbage was collected back by the person who threw it away.

The surveillance was conducted by Ms. Manju Pratap, Ms. Lima Benny, Ms. Daisy Santhosh, Ms. Shiny Saji and Ms. Soumya Subhash, 'Lightning Army'   members under the leadership of Ms. Sheeba Yohannan, CDS Chairperson, Ramamangalam CDS  in ward 5 and 13. 

The four-day state-level training programme for the Sub Committee Conveners of Kudumbashree Urban CDSs has been completed. 'Chalanam 2023' is a project initiated by Kudumbashree to strengthen the Kudumbashree organizational system in urban areas. A total of 645 Sub-Committee Conveners were trained in six batches at Maria Rani Training Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

Effective functioning of Kudumbashree CDSs is done through thematic sub-committees on Micro Finance, Livelihood, Infrastructure Development, Social Development, Ward Sabha and Employment Guarantee. In this way, the State-Level Training organized for the Conveners of Sub-Committees working in 93 municipalities of the state has been completed.

The training was based on a special module prepared by the representatives of the teams in charge of various projects in Kudumbashree State Mission and City Mission Managers. This was led by the Kudumbashree Training teams. Apart from the classroom sessions, outdoor sessions were also organized for the trainees.

Shri. A. Jahamgeer, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, Shri. N. Jagajeevan, Suchithwa Mission Consultant and Former Programme Officer of Kudumbashree, Ms. Beena. E and Shri. Anish Kumar M.S, State Programme Managers interacted with the trainees.

Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission comes up with the novel idea of Single Mother Forum. Mothers who lose the father of their children in the blink of an eye due to illness or accident or who have to take full responsibility of the child born in the womb. Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission is spreading the love of the community to the isolation of such mothers who have no support in their lives through the concept of Single Mother Forum.

Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission has now started implementing this concept through Model Gender Resource Centres. The Single Mother Forum is a group of mothers who are single mothers who are widowed or single. Mothers of children below 18 years of age are included in this forum. Around 100 mothers participated in the Single Mother Forums organized in five panchayaths namely Kuzhur, Mullassery, Perinjanam, Kadukutty and Arimbur during the month of March. They shared all the challenges, difficulties and neglects they faced in their lives in the forum.

The objectives of 'Single Mother Forum' include providing psychological support to these mothers, provide livelihood opportunities under the guidance of Kudumbashree, guide the children in job related ways after education, introduce advanced technology, extend support for starting individual and group enterprises, introduce various projects implemented by Kudumbashree and help secure its benefits, introduce the services of Snehitha and GRCs. Discussions were also held to include various projects for them in the women's component scheme with the support of the panchayath. Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission aims to form a Single Mother Forum in all panchayaths of the district.

Kerala makes outstanding performance in NULM project implementation. Kerala has again been recognized at the national level for its excellent implementation of the centrally sponsored programme Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM) in the state. Through Kudumbashree Kerala became the first state to get recognition in SPARK Ranking 6 times in a row. Kerala has been ranked second in the 2022-23 'SPARK' (Systematic Progressive Analytical Real Time Ranking) ranking for states implementing the scheme. With this, Kerala became the only state to win the SPARK Award six times consecutively. The award amount is Rs. 15 crores. This will be utilized for the expansion of project activities. Gujarat holds the first position and Uttarakhand won the third position.

The SPARK Ranking Award for 2021-22 was received last month. Unlike the previous years, the performance assessment was completed on 31 March 2023, the end of the financial year itself and the rank was announced. Due to this, the awards for two financial years were received at a gap of ten days. The NULM scheme is being implemented in the urban areas of 29 states and 8 Union Territories in the country. Kerala is recognized for excelling in this at the national level. Kerala has secured first position in 2020-21 financial year, second position in 2021-22 financial year and 2018-19 financial year and third position in 2019-20 financial year and 2017-18 financial year. Kudumbashree is the nodal agency of the project in the state.

SPARK ranking is given on the basis of common criteria laid down by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for timely completion of the scheme objectives as per the NULM Scheme. Remarkable progress has already been achieved through the project implemented in 93 municipalities in the state aiming to improve the lives of the urban poor. It is estimated that the project has helped to achieve economic and social progress by bringing together the urban poor under the Kudumbashree three-tier organizational system and providing job training and employment to improve their material living conditions. In addition, shelter homes for the needy, identity cards for street vendors and loans were  also provided.

So far, 24,893 NHGs have been formed in the urban area as part of the project. Skill training was provided to 24,860 people. Out of this, 21,576 people have been provided certificates. Employment was given to 13,736 people. 5704 individual enterprises and 1187 group enterprises were started in livelihood sector. Linkage loan was given to 47,378 persons and Rs..50,000 each was given to 3360 ADSs and Rs.10,000 each was given to 41,604 NHGs as Revolving Fund. Through the survey, 25,684 street vendors were found out of which 19,020 were issued identity cards. 24 shelter homes have been completed in various municipalities, under the project.

Kudumbashree is planning to implement the idiom, 'Old habits die hard' in garbage disposal methods as well. Kudumbashree Balasabha-led 'Suchithwolsavam' Campaign to create strong social awareness about effective waste management will be launched on 22 April 2023. A total of 3.9 lakh members of 28,387 Balasabhas under Kudumbashree in the state will come forward for propagating the message of cleanliness activities as part of this programme.

A number of activities have been planned as part of the campaign based on the idea of spreading the message of hygiene through children to families and from families to the society. Prizes will also be given to the children and Balasabha who make great performance. Training will be given to Resource Persons and CDS Chairpersons as part of the preparations for the campaign. A state-level module building workshop related to the campaign was started in Thiruvananthapuram.

Major activities as part of the campaign:

1. Each child will accurately record the level of waste generated in their own home in the green card given through Kudumbashree to the children who are members of Balasabha. The details of the organic, inorganic and plastic waste will also be collected. The goal is to gradually reduce the amount of waste generated in each Balasabha member's home.

2. Credit points will be given to Balasabha members who reduce the level of waste in their homes after the campaign starts.

3. The prize is financial assistance to start a children's library for Balasabha which reduce the level of waste significantly.

4. Activities such as plantation and maintenance of fruit trees on World Environment Day, preparation of report on waste disposal implemented locally, home visits to create awareness on pre-monsoon sanitation and waste disposal. Activities such as poster making, bird watching, sky watching and arrangement of drinking water for birds at home.

5. Literary camps, writing workshops and art competitions will be organized to showcase creativity.

6. On the occasion of the conclusion of the campaign, an environment protection gathering will be organized in all CDSs.

Kudumbashree members become Karate Master Trainers through 'Dheeram' Programme of Kudumbashree. 28 Kudumbashree family members have become master trainers after undergoing karate training as part of the 'Dheeram' project initiated by Kudumbashree in collaboration with Sports Kerala Foundation as part of the 100 Day Programme of the Government of Kerala for ensuring self defense for women and for boosting their self-confidence. 

In the first phase of the project, 200 hours of training was provided to two people selected from each district in a 25-day residential camp organized till 1 April 2023 at Vattiyoorkavu Shooting Range, Thiruvananthapuram. In the second phase, these master trainers, who have also received gym training, will give karate training to 420 people (30 Kudumbashree women in each district). Karate training groups will be started on an enterprise model involving women who successfully complete this one year-long training. The aim is to provide karate training to women and girls in schools, colleges and residents' associations through them. 

Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree inaugurated the certificate distribution for master trainers in a ceremony organized at Vattiyoorkavu on 31 March 2023. Ms. Aswathy Sreenivas IAS, Sub Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, Ms. Seema. A.N, Additional Director, Sports Department, Shri. Rajeev R, State Project Co-ordinator, Sports Foundation Kerala, Ms. Sreebala Ajith, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, Shri. Nafih Muhammad, Public Relations Officer, Kudumbashree, Ms. Sindhu.V, State Programme Manager participated in the programme. There was also a karate demonstration by those who completed the training.

15 Kudumbashree NHG members from Kerala are at Delhi to pay a visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan. They are 15 Kudumbashree NHG members belonging to Scheduled Tribes Community and Backward Classes from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram districts. The team of NHG members reached Delhi on 30 March 2023 and fulfilled the dream of visiting  Rashtrapati Bhavan on 31 March 2023 as part of Udyan Utsav 2023.

As per the special instructions of the Hon. President, the opportunity for visit was given to women belonging to Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes in Self Help Groups as part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission in all the states of India. As part of this, the team including two NHG members from Wayanad district, one member each from other districts and three Kudumbashree officials arrived in Delhi.

Kudumbashree members in leadership positions who are doing good work in Kudumbashree were selected from 14 districts.  These include Model CDS chairpersons and leaders from PVTGs (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups). The team visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan includes Ms. Sunitha Koneriyo (Kasaragod), Ms. Dhanya PN (Kannur), Ms. Sini Vijayan, Nisha. Ms. K (both from Wayanad), Ms. Anitha Babu (Palakkad), Ms. Mini Sujesh (Malappuram) and Ms. Sreena. V (Kozhikode), Ms. Remya. C (Thrissur), Ms. Girija Shaji (Ernakulam), Ms. Rosamma Francis (Idukki), Ms. Ambili Sajeevan (Kottayam), Ms. Prasanna Shaji (Alappuzha), Ms. Geetha PK (Pathanamthitta), Ms. Raziya Ayyappan (Kollam), Ms. Vidyadevi VT (Thiruvananthapuram), Shri. Prabhakaran. M (Kudumbashree State Programme Manager), Ms. Sharika. S (Kudumbashree State Assistant Programme Manager), Shri. Sudheesh Kumar V ( Young Professional, Attappady Special Project). The team will return home on 1 April 2023.

Kodenchery CDS set a model by constructing a 'Snehaveedu' for a needy NHG member. The Kodenchery CDS constructed a house for Ms. Radha from Chippilithodu Varichathodu of Kodenchery Panchayath of Kozhikode district.  The driving force of Kudumbashree is the collective power of the NHG members and this collective power made the dream of a common needy woman come true. 

Radha was selected as the second beneficiary of the Kudumbashree 'Snehaveedu' Project of the Kodenchery CDS which provides a place to rest the most deserving from among the applications received from 21 ADSs.  Rs 3 lakhs was collected from the NHG members for the house of Radha, who is the member of Saubhagya NHG of Chippilithodu ADS. Also, the help of local residents and voluntary organizations was also utilized for constructing the house for Radha. In 2020, Kodenchery CDS had also built a house for Ayesha, an NHG member from Karimbalakunnu ADS.

Shri. Linto Joseph, MLA, Thiruvambady constituency handed over the keys  of the house to Ms Radha at the function held on 10 March 2023. Ms. Nisha Reji, Chairperson, Kodenchery CDS welcomed the gathering. Ward members, CDS - ADS members, volunteers, Shri. Bijesh T.T, Kudumbashree District Programme Manager, Block Co-ordinators and CDS Accountant participated in the function. NHG members are always ahead to get involved in the common problems of their areas and to shower care and love on the needy.

Kudumbashree is organizing Logo, Tagline Competition to modify the existing logo as part of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Kudumbashree. Kudumbashree members and general public can participate in the competition. The prize is Rs. 10,000 each for logo and tagline. The winners will be awarded with the prize including the memento during the Kudumbashree Day Celebrations which will be held on 17 May 2023. 

Logo and tagline can be prepared either in English or Malayalam language. The works should be simple and relevant, clarifying the growth, development and importance of Kudumbashree, such as sustainable development through women's society, innovative career opportunities, inclusive of future development perspectives.

The entries must be received by 15 April 2023 to Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Poverty Eradication Mission, Trida Building, Medical College. P.O., Thiruvananthapuram 695 011.

For details- www.kudumbashree.org/logo

Rangashree teams across the state are organizing cultural procession to spread awareness on 'My Waste, My Responsibility' and the activities of Haritha Karma Sena. Through this Rangashree is doing its part for ensuring a garbage free Kerala. The Rangashree teams are making awareness on various activities of Haritha Karma Sena, who are making relentless efforts to keep Kerala clean.

The various activities of Haritha Karma Sena include collecting inorganic waste from every household, sorting it, handing over the recyclables to companies for that purpose, handing over the non-organic waste for road tarring, providing solutions and suggestions for organic waste management etc. Rangashree, the community theatre group of Kudumbashree is bringing awareness to the masses about the invaluable services rendered by Haritha Karma Sena by reminding every citizen of the duty of 'My Waste is My Responsibility'.

The Rangashree team members of the respective districts perform the Cultural Procession, which includes a play prepared under the name 'Nalla Bhoomiyude Pattukar' (The Singers of Good Earth), at various centres in each district. The Cultural Procession has been organized in Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki and Malappuram districts.