Kudumbashree- A Mission for Women Empowerment in Kerala By Dr. Abdul Azeez. NP, Central University of Kashmir

2. Kudumbashree
Kudumbashree (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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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)

6. 1. No Land /Less than 10 cents of Land
2. No house/Dilapidated House
3. No Sanitary Latrine
4. No access to safe drinking water within 300 meters
5. Women headed house hold/ Presence of a widow,
divorcee / abandoned lady / unwed mother
6. No regularly employed person in the family
7. Socially Disadvantaged Groups(SC/ST)
8. Presence of Mentally or physically challenged person /
Chronically ill member in the family
9. Families with an illiterate adult member
A family having at least four of the above factors is classified
as a ‘Family at Risk’ or a ‘Poor Family’
9 Point Poverty Index (Revised - Rural)

7. 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

8. Key Development Initiatives
1. Micro- Enterprises Programme:
 Canteens/ Catering Units
 IT Units
 Group Farming Units
 Fruit Processing Units
 Foot Ware Units
 Condiments Units
 Umbrella Units
 Building Materials Units
 Horticulture Units
 Electronics Units
 Readymade Garments Units
 Soap Powder Units
 Toys Units and Grocery Shops.

9. • 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:

10. 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:

11. 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:

12. “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

13. 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”:

14. 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:

15. 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:

16. 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

17. MGNREGS
Gender 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

18. 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