Abdul Azeez.NP Assistant Professor

Department of EconomicsCentral University of Kashmir

Kudumbashree A Mission for Women’s Empowerment in Kerala

KudumbashreeKudumbashree (prosperity of the family), the women

oriented community based poverty alleviation programme which is based on micro-credit and self-help group ,being implemented in Kerala by the State Government in 1998, with the active support of Government of India, National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) tries to cure the morbid development imbalance of the State.

Mission of Kudumbashree“To eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through concerted community action under the leadership of Local Governments, by facilitating organization of

poor for combining self help with demand led convergence of available services and resources to

tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestation of poverty holistically”.

Reaching out to the families through women & reaching out to the society through families

Gram Panchayat|

Community Development Society(One in each panchayat, registered as a Society under the

Societies Act)|

Area Development Society (30-40 NHGs) – ward level(Overseeing committee of 7 persons)

|Neighbourhood Groups and Self Help Groups (10-20 persons)

Structure of the Kudumbashree

Neighbourhood Group – The Building Block

One woman each from 15 – 40 families at risk – Organized into Neighbourhood Group (NHG)

Democratically selected Committee of Five “ Barefoot Specialists”

•Volunteer for Community Health Activities•Volunteer for Infrastructure Development•Volunteer for Income Generation Activities•Secretary – (The General Manage•President – (The Leader and Chief Coordinator)

1. No Land /Less than 10 cents of Land2. No house/Dilapidated House3. No Sanitary Latrine4. No access to safe drinking water within 300 meters5. Women headed house hold/ Presence of a widow,divorcee / abandoned lady / unwed mother6. No regularly employed person in the family7. Socially Disadvantaged Groups(SC/ST)8. Presence of Mentally or physically challenged person /Chronically ill member in the family9. Families with an illiterate adult member

A family having at least four of the above factors is classifiedas a ‘Family at Risk’ or a ‘Poor Family’

9 Point Poverty Index (Revised - Rural)

As on March 2012, Kudumbashree has covered

Growth of Kudumbashree

Poor Families- 40.37 lakh Community Development Society- 1070 Area Development Society- 17,890 Neighbourhood Groups- 2.50 lakh

Key Development Initiatives1.Micro- Enterprises Programme:

Canteens/ Catering UnitsIT UnitsGroup Farming UnitsFruit Processing UnitsFoot Ware UnitsCondiments UnitsUmbrella UnitsBuilding Materials UnitsHorticulture UnitsElectronics UnitsReadymade Garments UnitsSoap Powder UnitsToys Units and Grocery Shops.

•Kudumbashree promotes Thrift mobilization by setting up thrift & Credit Societies at NHG level to encourage the poor to save and to provide them cost effective and easy credit. •Thrift and Credit Societies facilitate easy and timely credit to the

un-reached•The amount of loan and the priority of disbursement are decided

by the NHG.•The repayment is collected weekly during the routine NHG

meetings.•The total thrift collected by NHGs in the State comes to Rs.2500

crores and the internal loans generated are to the tune of Rs.4300 crores (As of March 2011).

2. Thrift and Credit:

The Bank Linkage programme has helped NHGs to deposit the existing resources collected through thrift.

NABARD has developed a 15-point index for rating NHGs on the basis of which they will be allowed to link with various banks under the Linkage Banking Scheme.

The total amount which has been mobilized under linkage banking is Rs.55406 lakhs and 92978 NHGs have availed the loans. For the year 2010-11, the total amount of loan disbursed through linkage banking is Rs.16547 lakhs.

3. Linkage Banking:

The micro-housing loan scheme for the poor called “Bhavanashree” was designed by Kudumbashree to meet the housing needs of the poor. Since the start of the scheme, an amount of Rs.19622 lakhs has been disbursed by the various banks under the Bhavanashree programme.

An amount of Rs.2067 lakhs was disbursed and 2560 houses completed under Bhavanashree for the year 2010-11.

4. Bhavanashree:

“Ashraya” in local language (depending) aims at uplifting the poorest of the poor from their destitution. Poorest of the poor families, which lack adequate food, drinking water, shelter, educational facilities for children, sanitation facilities, employment opportunities and land for shelter and worst sufferers of illness and chronic diseases are identified and rehabilitated under various schemes. The programme launched in 391 village Panchayats and 6 municipalities.

5. Ashraya

Lease land farming programme, named ‘Harithashree’ in local language, lends helping hands to those cultivators who are having no land at all. So Kudumbashree pools uncultivated lands on rent and provide the willing cultivators for agricultural operations.

6. Lease Land Farming/ “Haritashree”:

self-sufficiency, self reliance and sustainability (S3) of the village panchayats. The project envisages to addressing the problems of child development, geriatric care, mentally and physically challenged, education, adolescent care, women empowerment, and enterprise development, unemployment of the educated youth, agriculture/animal husbandry / dairy development, revamping the traditional sectors basic minimum needs and destitute identification and rehabilitation.

7. The S3 Programme:

The children from poor families are organized to develop their intellectual faculties by performing cultural activities from time to time. “Balasabhas” (in local language) functions as a platform of the children to help develop their overall capabilities that combines education, entertainment and empowerment.

8. Balasabha:

9. MGNREGS The Estimate of the work should be displayed in the board Provide tools/implements at the worksite Get signatures of the workers in the muster roll ADS should ensure that the workers are coming on time and doing the

correct amount of work. Site diary to be maintained giving details of income and expense,

number of implements used; number of people and days worked by each one.

If there are children below 5 yrs, a shed to be made and an ayah to look after the children

First Aid Box to be provided at the worksite Interact with the Panchayat and other officials Ensure that the wages are given on time

MGNREGSGender parity of wage

Ensuring that at least 33% of the workers shall be women

Increased in control rights of women in earnings from MGNREGA

Provisions like

• Work within a radius of five kilometers from the house

• Flexibility in terms of choosing period and months of employment

crèches for the children of women workers

Kudumbashree became the lifeline to many of the poor women in the State of Kerala. Resultantly, the women of the State have become active participants in the planning and implementation process of various anti-poverty programmes. By participating in various income generating– cum developmental activities, the morale and confidence of women become very high.

In a nutshell, Kudumbashree, a comprehensive SHG-based poverty eradication programme with partnership of local government and SHG is considered a unique programme. All the state can introduce such a women oriented poverty alleviation programme and ultimately which leads to empowerment of women.

Conclusion