The very motto of Kudumbashree Mission is based on women empowerment; 'reach out to the family through women, reach out to the community through family'. Naturally empowerment of women through community-based organizations is counted as the first and foremost objective of the mission.

empowerment of women through community based organizations.

Status of women in the society is still secondary and their role in developmental process is deplorably marginal. While social taboos, practices and lack of awareness and exposure smother their selves and spirits exploitations of all sorts are going on in all walks of life at their expense. The Project proposes to enable and enlighten the women to realize their own latent potentials, and strengthen them to contribute to the development of their families and community.

The empowerment of women is sought to be achieved through the CDS strategy, which is an exclusively women-managed programme. Frequent group meetings, sharing of experience and training would broaden their outlook. Improved economic status of the women gained through CDS thrift and self-employment will boost their status in their own families and community. The enlightened, income-generating women will refuse to accept poverty as their destiny. Once they realize their collective strength, they will fight  poverty and atrocities against them most valiantly.

Community based organizations will be the tools and devices to bring about these changes among women folk of the poor class. One woman from every identified poor family will be made a member of a Neighbourhood Group. The NHGs will be federated into ward level Area Development Societies (ADS) and ADSs will be federated into town/panchayat level Community Development Societies (CDSs). Thus this three tier CDS system of poor women will be coming up all over Kerala. These organizations and their activities will empower the poor women of the State to fight against poverty and social evils.

thrift and credit operations and informal banking.

The CDS system will promote thrift habit among the poor women and encourage them to use the pooled resources to meet the emergent needs of the members. The CDS will therefore start functioning as informal bank of the poor women. If the resources in any NHG are enough to encourage loan for income generating activities, these loans will be appraised and sanctioned. All operations relating to thrift collection and loan sanctioning will be transparent and take place only in-group meeting.

Kudumbashree Mission understands and accepts the resourcefulness of the poor in terms of finance, skills, entrepreneurship and overall managerial capabilities. In connection with the thrift and credit operations and informal banking, NHG members will be given ample training in community finance management.

decision making by the poor

Kudumbashree mission believes in encouraging community based bottom up planning. The ultimate aim is to hand over the decision-making and implementation power to the empowered women. At NHG level, micro-plans are made, based on the analysis of local problems with the aims of removing the risk factors or reducing their impact. NHG Plans will be consolidated into ward level plans (mini plans), which will finally be integrated to form `action plan; of the CDS. CDS will be empowered for bottom up planning, implementation and monitoring and can directly approach and receive funds from the Government, UNICEF, NABARD, banks and other donors. The CDS and ADS will maintain bank accounts and will be directly responsible for implementation of planned activities at panchayat/ward and NHG level.

convergent community action

Kudumbashree is envisaged as transparent convexity which would converge the whole radiance of the community. When all the rays are converged, sufficient heat will be generated to burn every single string of poverty, which entangles the society.

Apart from the latent potential and will of the community itself, initiatives, resources, programmes and commitment of various governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and local governments are expected to converge through the CDS system. The CDS would function as an extended arm of the government and local bodies, for the implementation of various programmes. Social welfare Programmes directed at poor in the areas of education, literacy, health, human resources development, empowerment of women, skill up gradation, vocational training, erdication of social evils, environmental improvement and such other areas will be implemented through the CDS system.

micro enterprises and income generations activities

Income generation is one of the prime responsibilities of every Kudumbashree NHG. In each NHG an Income Generating Volunteer is entrusted with this responsibility. It is the duty of IG volunteers to explore the possibilities, which would help and boost the income generating activities of the group. The IG volunteer will identify all potential agencies; departments and organizations engaged in promotion of self-employment activities. She will also interact with NABARD and commercial banks, in connection with mobilising of finance.

Kudumbashree intends to promote and encourage micro-enterprises at micro entrepreneurship among poor women. The project envisages the forming of at least one flourishing micro enterprise in every NHG to ensure the sustainable economic development of the individual, group, families, community and the state.

Linkage of the NHGs with linkage banking programme of NABARD, providing loans to all houseless families of the state, providing sanitary latrines in every household of the state, preparation and implementation of special programme packages for the development of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are also the objectives of the mission.