Organised by Kudumbashree Mission Saras Mela 2019, the national food and cultural expo, the largest rural exhibition in the country which would offer the best of traditional ethnic food and artistry is all set to begin at Cheruvathur Ground, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur on 28 March 2019. Thousands of entrepreneurs from different parts of the country has begun to arrive at Thrissur with various kinds of products to steal the hearts of the customers. The products includes food, clothing, handmade items, household items etc.  Around 250 colorful stalls are set up at Cheruvathur ground at Kunnamkulam.  

The Saras fair, which is being conducted by the Kudumbashree Mission in cooperation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State government is a 11 long days stretched exhibition cum sale programme. The objective of the fair is to ensure market for rural entrepreneurs and to provide an opportunity to sell their products without any interference of any second person.  Through this fair the rural artisans, craftsmen, and beneficiaries of Self Help Groups (SHG) across India would be able to exhibit and sell their products directly with customers, thereby earning additional income as well as a significant exposure. 

Around 40 entrepreneurs from 5 states have already reached Thrissur. The entrepreneurs came all the way from Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra to make the fair more attractive with their traditional food items. entrepreneurs from 29 states and 7 union territories across the country will be the part of the programme. Micro entrepreneurs form different states of the country are keeping on arriving at the Saras Fair 2019. The handicrafts that would showcase the heritage and culture of each states, art forms, jewelry, fabrics, utensils etc would be for sale at the Saras Mela. The ethnic food prepared by the Kudumbashree women would add more colour to the programme. 

 The India food court which would be opened at the Saras Fair would offer various cuisines from different states across the country. Thukpa, chow mein, thenthuk, fakthu, gyathuk, wonton and momos would be available at the food stall of Sikkim. Lakshadweep biriyani, lakshdweep mass, keelanchi, chattipathiri, irachipathiri,fish roll, fish cutlet, fish samosa, pookkuthappam, kadukatti, choolala shake, maasappam, thokkappam,kattippaal, lakshadweep halwa, tuna pickle etc would be at sale at Lakshadweep's food stall. Karnataka's food stall would offer rice bath, bisi bela bath, vanki bath, chaat dishes, ragi dishes, different varieties, pulav, bajjis, curries, rotis, golgappa, panipuri, masala poori, akki rotti, chicken kebab etc whereas marathi chicken biriyani, veg biriyani, pani puri, vada paav, dahee dappatta, chinna badam chutney, dahi vada, masala papad etc would be offered by Maharashtra's food stall. Goan fish moli, grilled fish, vada paav, goan pakoda, goan veg dhaali,  varieties of prawn dishes and special goan masala papad would be offered by the food stall of Goa.

Officials of Kudumbashree National Resource Organisation in cooperation with Adebha Institute of Food Research and Hospitality Management, Thrissur (AIFRHM) has conducted an awareness class for these entrepreneurs to discuss the rules and regulations, the suggestions and their needs for the smooth participation in the fair. In addition to this, 45 student beneficiaries of DDUGKY conducted a flash mob near Kunnamkulam bus stand on 26  March 2017  for the publicity and promotion of the fair.

Saras fairs help the micro entrepreneurs to sell out their products to the consumers without the interventions of the middle men and would help them to grow better business relations and thereby increase their sales. this would in turn help them in earning more income and better life style. The programme would strictly follow green protocol and would be opened from 10 AM to 10 PM. Only cloth bags and paper bags would be used during the mela. Daily cultural programmes would also arranged in connection with the programme. Entry to Saras Mela is absolutely free.

Saras Mela 2019 would be an incredible opportunity to get acquainted with the cultural, artistic, traditional, and rich heritage values of different states across the country. Undoubtedly, Saras Mela 2019 would add more colour to the festive days of Kerala. The mela would come to an end on 7 April 2019.

Janakiya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum Initiative aims at building a Kerala model of People’s Plan and democratic decentralization in the post-disaster recovery process after the unprecedented floods and landslides that affected 11 out of the 14 districts of Kerala during August 2018. The project attempts to bring people’s voices and feedback into the process of building a more resilient Kerala and the same is now being implemented by Kudumbashree Mission in association with UNICEF, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), Local Self Government Department, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Sphere India and Ridhi Foundation.

As per the initiative, feedback would be collected from the affected communities and be submitted to the Government for further activities.The project is being conducted in the administration of 489 Local Self Government Institutions in 7 districts. The project will take into account the needs of the unprivileged, women, children, specially- abled and geriatrics. Janakiya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum Initiative will give information support to the areas like health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, hygiene, food security and livelihood. The Janakiya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum Initiative was launched after piloting in the affected grama panchayaths of Alappuzha and Wayanad districts of Kerala during October-November 2018 in the first phase and later during December 2018- March 2019, the second phase, with additional gram panchayaths in 5 more districts leading to a total of 489 most affected panchayaths across 7 districts.

The Janakiya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum Initiative aims at enabling a connection between on-going development planning processes and humanitarian responses and recovery while also contributing to preparedness and resilience-building for future disasters, should they occur. Building on the evidence and lessons learned over the recent years during disaster response across the world, the initiative aims at empowering affected populations and ensuring that they have a voice in rehabilitation and reconstruction decisions.

The rationale for the initiative is the need to focus more to 'Build Kerala Back Better' with stronger and resilient communities, systems and services. It aims at institutionalizing community-led engagements for Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction planning process. The key objectives of the project include improving communities’ access to information about recovery, reconstruction and support assistance available to them and ensuring that they could provide their views on their post-disaster needs by communicating their issues and concerns to the government authorities. Apart from hosting the programme, Kudumbashree Mission would ensure the availability of the Resource Persons training including CDS, ADS and NHG staff, guide the implementation of the community mobilization initiative, interdepartmental mechanism for use of data for informing recovery and reconstruction decision making at state/district level. Janakiya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum Initiative had also developed a website - www.kudumbashreejpp.org for updating the progress of the project.

Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission had recently organised Lasitham Residential Camp for Balasabha students. The programme envisaged at improving the quality of the children and giving them training in Indian arts free of cost and thereby improve their talents.The Lasitham Residential camp was of 6 days duration. The arts performance of 700 students who completed residential training was also conducted along with the programme.

Kudumbashree Wayanad District Mission had launched this initiative associating with Spic Macay ( Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth), a non-political, nation wide voluntary movement founded in 1977, which intends to enrich the quality of formal education by increasing awareness about different aspects of Indian heritage and inspiring the young mind to imbibe the values embedded in it.

The residential camp and performance were held at Government High School, Kaniyambatta and Sarvodaya Scholl, Echom. Trainings were given in bharathanatyam, mohiniyattom, mural paintings, yoga, manipuri, ottam thullal, nangyaarkoothu, puppet dance etc. Eminent artists Ms. Deepthi Parol, Ms. Deepa Saseendran, Ms. Abhayalakshmi, Shri. Kalamandalam Vijayanand,

Ms. Vidya Pradeep, Shri. K.R Babu, Ms. Sinam Basu Singh, Shri. Kalamandalam Mohana Krishnan and Dr. Aparna Nangyar gave training in the respective art forms. Lasitham Residential Camp was received wholeheartedly by the Balasabha students as it was a warm experience for them which nourished their artistic talents.

Kudumbashree Mission had  joined hands with Harithakerala Mission for launching Jalasabha in neighbourhood groups with an aim of fighting against water scarcity . Awareness classes would be organised in all NHGs as part of Jalasabha programme. As World Water Day is observed on 22 March, special NHG meetings would be conducted as part of the Jalasabha programme  in all NHGs in the state from 22 March- 31 March 2019.

During the Jalasabha special NHG meeting, discussions and activities will be arranged based on the pamphlets prepared on the topic 'Water is life', which would be circulated among the NHGs through Kudumbashree Community Development Societies (CDS). The pamphlets have drawings and text which give suggestions on how to conserve water during water scarcity.  The pamphlets also give idea on how to make rain pits and how to do well recharging effectively. Special meetings would be arranged at Kudumbashree Balasabhas as well. 18,57,000 pamphlets have been circulated among NHGs and 1,43,000 pamphlets have been circulated among Balasabhas.  A total of 20 lakhs of pamphlets have been circulated altogether. 

As per the pamphlet, each NHG family would discuss and implement a water conservation activity of their own.They would note the number of water sources in the locality of their NHG. They would also note that out of the identified water sources, how many are usable and out of the non-usable, how many can be reinstated by the NHGs through chlorination and cleaning. They would also prepare a list of common water bodies near the NHG and would also give leadership to clean the water bodies with the help of the public and MGNREGS. After the analysis and study, the NHGs would handover the details of the cleaned water bodies to Harithakerala Mission and Kudumbashree Mission and get it published. They may also seek the help of Local Self Government Institutions (LSGIs), MGNREGS, Water Authority & Soil Conservation Department to clean the water bodies that NHGs could clean by themselves.They should also make interventions to dig ponds with the help of MGNREGS. The ADS and CDS would monitor the activities and the details collected will be compiled and be sent to Kudumbashree District Missions and Harithakerala Mission.

Pennorukkam Theatre Performance by Rangasree was held at Kochi Muziris Biennale Pavilion on 17 March 2019 . Pennorukkam  Theatre performance was staged by Kudumbashree's theater forum Rangashree. The theme of the play was Kerala's historical women's struggles and their achievements. The entire production has been scripted, designed and performed exclisively by Rangashree itself. Pennorukkam was performed as part of the Gender Self Learning Programme (GSLP). Selected 11 women artists hailing from Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts performed at Pennorukkam.

Pennorukkam was indeed a thought provoking performance which gave messages to the women fraternity to face and overcome any  atrocities against them. The concept of community theater had its origin during 2012. The same was launched joining women who were interested in performing arts. The community theater of each group is functioning under respective district mission offices. Foreigners from various countries and general public was present among the audience who watched the Pennorukkam performance.

Rangasree is a program to train selected women from Kudumbashree in Theatre with the aim of establishing community theaters in every CDS of the State. It also aims to disseminate the messages of social justice, equality, sustainable development etc. Women belonging to Neighborhood groups, who have talents got training and the aspire is to form local cultural organization. Gender Self Learning Programme could be regarded as the first social educational process that would have direct implications on rights and entitlements of women in grass roots. Unlike conventional women empowerment programmes that adhere to awareness classes, gender self learning programme aims at facilitating neighborhood groups on discussions that reflect on discrimination, violence and inequality. Each woman represented in the network is regarded as a participant, information provider and knowledge creator.

Pothichor service providing fresh, aroma wafting homely meals has been kickstarted at Malappuram District Mission. Smt. C.K Hemalatha, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission inaugurated the Pothichor Service at Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission.

Smt. Shereefa of Malappuram CDS 2 is the micro entrepreneur who serves food to the staff of Kudumbashree Malappuram District Mission. The food is prepared at the kitchen of Smt. Shereefa. The programme being implemented in the various offices at civil station in the first phase will be later extended to other private offices as well. The food is being served in multilayered stainless steel clip tiffin boxes. Those who wish to have pothichor have to order for the same before 10.30 AM.  They had publicized two mobile numbers for ordering the pothichor. A vegetarian meals consisting of rice, two curries, pickle and pappad cost Rs 40 and for sardine fish fry one has to pay an additional amount of Rs 15. The cost of other fish dishes may vary according to the market price. They are also serving chappathi and curry at a rate of Rs 20 during evening time. It is also planned to launch breakfast services as well. The mouth watering homely meals prepared by Kudumbashree women is whipping up the taste buds of many.

Kudumbashree is all set to launch Aajeevika Grameen Express to solve the travelling difficulties in backward areas. Aajeevika  Grameen Express  will not only solve the travelling difficulties  of the people  but also would help them find a livelihood of their own. 

The Government of India had launched a new sub-scheme named 'Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)' as part of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).  The Self Help Groups under DAY-NRLM will operate road transport service in backward areas. This will help to provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services to connect remote villages with key services and amenities (such as access to markets, education and health) for the overall economic development of backward rural areas. This will provide an additional avenue of livelihood for Kudumbashree NHGs.

The Community Investment Fund (CIF) provided to Community Based Organization (CBOs) under DAY-NRLM will be utilized to support the NHG members in this new livelihoods initiative. The beneficiary NHG member will be provided an interest free loan by the CBO from its Community Investment Fund upto Rs.6.50 lakhs for the purchase of the vehicle. Alternatively, CBO will own the vehicle and lease it to an NHG member to operate the vehicle and pay lease rental to the CBO. The blocks are selected by the states from among the blocks where NRLM is being implemented intensively and where mature CBOs are already functioning. 

Backwardness, lack of transportation links and sustainability of service would be the guiding factors in the selection of Blocks and routes. The choice of vehicle could be either e-rickshaw, three wheeler or four wheeler within a cost ceiling of Rs.6.50 lakhs. Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana   will be initially implemented in 4 blocks in 3 districts (Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Idukki) of Kerala. Each block to purchase 3 vehicles. Currently, Enadhimangalam CDS of Parakkodu block has purchased the vehicle (Mahindra Supro). 

Kudumbashree opened RO Plant at Pathanamthitta Municipality premises to make avail pure drinking water. The first RO Plant of Pathanamthitta district started under Kudumbashree Mission was inaugurated on 05 March 2019 by Adv. Geetha Suresh, Municipal Chairperson in the presence of  Smt. Bindhu.V.C,Managing Director, Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation Ltd. (KSWDC) and Shri. K.Vidhu, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree Pathanamthitta District Mission.

The bottled drinking water was named as ‘Nagara Thelima’. Kudumbashree Mission had launched the idea of launching a Reverse Osmosis Plant to produce bottled drinking water, as part of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission Project being implemented in Kerala. A Kudumbashree group named 'Thelima' comprising of 4  members from Ward No. 24 and 25 of Pathanamthitta  Municipality registered under NULM as an enterprise is entrusted with the charge of running the distribution system with a financial aid of Rs.150000 from bank of Baroda. Kudumbashree is implementing the project with the help of New Delhi based Dharna Infrastructure Private Limited.

It is decided to sell the purified drinking water cans at a nominal charge of just Rs 35. The consumer have to give RS 25 only for 20 litres of pure drinking water.  The water is purified using reverse osmosis technology to treat the filtered water. The water will be then purified through ultraviolet treatment and the purity of the water is ensured. The total project cost Rs.25 lakhs is met by Pathanamthitta municipality.
 
The demand for purified drinking water can be better converted into an enterprise opportunity and the Mission intends to open more such plants  across the state. 'Nagara Thelima’, purified drinking water, distributed to the people of  in reasonable prices during this time of water scarcity is really being a boon to the public.

The date for submitting entries for 'Kudumbashree oru Nerchithram' Season 2- Photography Competition is extended till 31 March 2019. Kudumbashree Mission launched Season 2 of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ Photography Competition for motivating the aspiring photographers and to propagate the activities of Kudumbashree Mission through photographs. Kudumbashree Mission which envisions at eradicating poverty through women in Kerala had successfully completed 20 revolutionary years.

The contestants should submit photographs that would reflect the 18 priority projects of Kudumbashree Mission.The entries should reach Kudumbashree Mission office on or before 31 March 2019. The jury comprising of renowned photographers and officials of Kudumbashree Mission will select the winner. The Award for the Best Photographer will be Rs 20,000. The second prize and third prize will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 respectively. Rs 1000 each will be issued for 10 entries as consolation prizes.

Entries may be send to the mail id- kudumbashreeprcontest@gmail.com or may be sent in CD Format to the address, The Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Mission Office, Trida Building, Medical college P.O, Thiruvananthapuram-695011. The name, address, mail id and contact number should be mentioned alongwith. A short note on the photograph should be attached along with. More details of the notification is available at Kudumbashree website- www.kudumbashree.org

The first season of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ was conducted during November- December 2017 and was a grant success. More than 500 photographs were received and it is on following the success of the competition, that the season 2 of the competition was launched.

Kudumbashree Mission in collaboration with Kochi Muziris Biennale, conducted a public conversation forum on 'Women and Culture in Kerala' at Biennale Pavilion Cabral Yard, Fort Kochi on 06 March 2019. The program provided a forum for the women from grass root level; who were empowered through Kudumbashree Mission to enhance their aesthetic skills and to present their experiences. A panel of three eminent personals specializing in similar fields contributed their expertise in the programme. The panel included Smt. Kavitha Balakrishnan (poet, painter and art curator), Dr.Suneetha T V (writer and Associate Professor,Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University) and Smt. Shailaja J (Secretary of the State ad hoc committee of NATAK).

Women from Kudumbashree Network presented their experiences regarding their entry into the cultural field, the hurdles faced and their achievements. Smt. Bushra from the field of literature, Mrs Savithri, a member of the Kudumbasree State Gender Resource Pool, Smt. Sherly, a member of ‘Rangashree’, Kudumbashree's community theatre team, and Smt. Annie, a representative from ‘Varayude Penma’ programme shared their experiences of empowerment and success achieved in nourishing their aptitudes through Kudumbashree Mission. All the 4 presenters expressed their gratitude towards Kudumbashree Mission, which played a vital role in their life, to full fill their interests and innate abilities which were buried in the course of life, due to several reasons. All of them stated that through different trainings and interactions they were self motivated and their position was elevated as compared to the previous situation. Several new opportunities are opened for them to step forward in the respective fields. Bushra shared the story of motivation which leads her to publish a women's magazine. Savithri, who evade from her writing hobby after marriage, are empowered through her entry into 'Sahithya Surabhi' team and she showcased her talent as a trainer as well. She also contributed to the preparation of learning module based on ‘Gender-Equality and Justice’ developed by Kudumbashree for Gender Self Learning Programme (GSLP). Sherly told that she gained confidence to address an audience only after her involvement in Rangashree program. Moreover her contributions to Rangashree made her famous in the district. Annie explained the change happened within her, who started as a competitor in the district level painting competition, later assigned to coordinate the team members of ‘Varayude Penma’.

All the experts in the panel appreciated Kudumbashree Mission for its contribution in women empowerment by addressing gender in different dimensions. Dr. Kavitha mentioned that women should be sometimes least obedient to accomplish their dreams. Smt. Shilaja told that women should be free from body consciousness to move forward. There should be a world which treats both women and men equal, instead of securing women with reservation. If there is equality there is no need for formal system to empower women. she said. Dr. Suneetha shared her memory of a talk show participated in 2001 when women from Kudumbashree explained their accomplishment in IT field. She told that she saw the same enthusiasm in the participants of this talk show who succeed in yet another field. Art, science or literature whatever the field may be, are the channels through which women can be brought equal to men. Vigilant group members from Kochi west CDS and the public including foreigners who visited Biennale constituted the audience. Audience also interacted with the panel members.