The 'Kerala Chicken' project being implemented by Kudumbashree in the state has also been extended to Alappuzha district. Shri. P. Prasad, Minister of Agriculture, Government of Kerala inaugurated the project during the function held at P.P. Swathanthra smaraka community hall, Kanjikuzhy on 7 March 2023. With this, the presence of the Kerala Chicken project implemented by Kudumbashree has increased to nine districts.

Kudumbashree is implementing the 'Kerala Chicken' project through Kudumbashree Broiler Farmers Producer Company Limited, which aims to provide quality chicken meat to the consumers at an affordable price.

Ms. Geetha Karthikeyan, President, Kanjikuzhy Grama Panchayath presided over the function. Shri. Prashanth Babu. J, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree, Alappuzha welcomed the gathering. Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree delivered the keynote address.

Shri. Krishna Teja IAS. the then District Collector, Alappuzha was the Chief Guest of the function. He congratulated the farmers who had done excellent work in the field of Animal Husbandry under Kudumbashree in various panchayaths of Kanjikuzhy block and honoured them with plaques and 'Ponnada' (Silk Cloth). Dr. Sajeev Kumar, Kudumbashree Programme Officer explained the future activities of the project.

Shri. Sooraj IAS, Sub Collector, Alappuzha, Shri. V. Uthaman, Member, District Panchayath Division, Ms. Shirley Bhargavan, Chairperson, Cherthala Municipality, Ms. Sudarshana Bhai Teacher, President, Mararikulam North Grama Panchayath, Shri. James Chunkathara, President, Kadakarapally Gram Panchayath paid their felicitations. Shri. Xavier K.V, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree delivered the vote of thanks.

Kudumbashree Idukki District Mission comes up with Badminton Training to improve the health of Balasabha members. Badminton classes is be taught to the Balasabha members in 8 blocks of the district. The training programme is organized in such a way that it does not affect the school studies. The first phase of this training program began on 4 February 2023.  A total of 210 children are currently undergoing the first phase of the training under the project, which is being implemented in collaboration with badminton associations.

The training is provided at the best quality badminton courts at Ayyappankovil (Kattappana), Adimaly (Adimaly), Vattavada (Devikulam), Vathikkudi (Idukki), Nedunkandam (Nedunkandam), Vandiperiyar (Azhutha), Thodupuzha (Thodupuzha) and Vannappuram (Ilamdesham). The first phase of training will end in the first week of March. Kudumbashree Idukki District Mission considers the reduced  mobile phone usage and more punctuality among the children participating in the training programme as proof of the success of the project. Kudumbashree Idukki District Mission is going ahead with activities to organize District Level Badminton Competitions for the children who excel in the training.

Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission is to brand the market the products made by BUDS Children in the brand name 'Ithal'. The project is being implemented with the full support of the District Administration. Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree and Shri. Geromic George IAS, District Collector, Thiruvananthapuram officially launched the 'Ithal' brand at a function held at the Kudumbashree State Mission Office on 1 March 2023.

Ms. Riya Singh IAS, Assistant Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Najeeb, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram, Ms. Aneesha A.J, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram, Ms. Sindhu V, Shri. Arun P Rajan, Kudumbashree State Programme Managers and Shri. Jaseel, District Programme Manager, Kudumbashree Thiruvananthapuram District Mission were also present at the function. The project has been started in 14 BUDS institutions in the district. Notepad, Office File, Seed Pen, Cloth Bag and Paper Bag are launched under 'Ithal' brand. A training programme has also been organized for parents and teachers for this purpose.

Symposium on Digital Marketing & Launch of Kudumbashree Products at ONDC was held at Symphony Hall, Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram on 2 March 2023. Shri. M.B. Rajesh, Minister of Local Self-Government Department and Excise Department, Government of Kerala officially inaugurated the project to make household products available on ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) digital platform. The minister inaugurated the project by ordering and buying millet powder online. This project is a part of the 100-Day Action Programme of the Government. The Minister said that Kudumbashree aims to make 700 products available on the ONDC platform in the next financial year and this start is a milestone.

Shri. V.K. Prasanth, MLA presided over the function. Shri. Jafar Malik IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree welcomed the gathering. Shri. V.P. Joy IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala delivered the keynote address. Shri. Sreekanth A.S, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree delivered the vote of thanks.  Shri. Nithin Nair, Vice President, ONDC and Shri. Dileep Vamanan, Director, Cellmetric Pvt Ltd was also present at the function. A symposium was also organized on Digital marketing for selected entrepreneurs from the districts in connection with the inaugural programme of the launch of Kudumbashree products on the ONDC platform.

Cherthala Municipality & Kudumbashree CDS jointly organized household appliances collection drive for extreme poor as part of Kudumbashree 'Oppam' Campaign. By way of the collection drive, more than 2000 household appliances were collected for the extreme poor-Destitute- Ashraya Families, which were identified through the ward level survey. 

This special activity was organized by Cherthala Municipality as part of the Oppam State Level Campaign to provide livelihood and financial security to the beneficiaries of PMAY (Urban)-LIFE Scheme, beneficiaries of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) being implemented through Kudumbashree in Kerala, urban poor, beneficiaries of Destitute Free Kerala Scheme and Auxiliary group members through entrepreneurship or wage-based employment. The supplies were collected in each ward as per the requirement based on the data collection conducted at the ward level as part of this campaign.  

In the first phase of collection, held on 11 and 12 February 2023, more than 2,000 household items including glass, utensils, cooker and cot were collected. About a thousand families donated different utensils. The materials were collected by a group which included ward councilors, NHG members, social workers, CDS members etc. They went to the houses and collected the equipment and stored it at the ward level. Later, these materials were collected in the vehicle of Haritha Karma Sena and were delivered to the municipality. The campaign will come to an end on 15 March 2023.

Kudumbashree made sales of Rs. 10.22 lakhs at the National Food Fest organized in connection with International Theatre Festival of Kerala held at Thrissur. The National Food Fest was a super hit and the sales was made within 10 days. The Theatre festival was held from 5 to14 February 2023. The food court was set up in the basketball court near the Indoor Stadium, Thrissur.  

A total of 12 stalls were set up under the leadership of Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission, which made available unique food items from various districts and tribal areas of Kerala and varieties of flavors from the states of Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The food court was open from 11 AM to 11 PM. The Kudumbashree units themselves prepared the food for the foreign groups and organizers who are part of the Theatre Festival. Lakshya Juice unit from Ernakulam, Kalyani Cafe from Thrissur, Swasthi Cafe from Kasaragod, AVS Food from Alappuzha, Venma Cafe Unit from Thalassery, Ice Cream Unit from Kannur, Attappady, V One Unit from Malappuram and Shreyas Cafe from Thrissur were the Kudumbashree units that were part of the Food Festival. Kudumbashree's 'AIFRHM' (Adebha Institute of Food Research and Hospitality Management) supervised the food court.

Along with several ventures in the manufacturing sector and various interventions in service sector including lifestyle disease diagnostics and geriatric care services, NHG members from Alappuzha district have came forward with an IT start-up. The start-up was launched on 2 February 2023.

Two units namely 'Women's Startup' and 'She Tech IT Solution' have been started in Mannancherry of Aryad Division under the Women's Component Project of the District Panchayath. Many services like online marketing, social media promotion, IT training, photography, videography, documentation, data entry and training programmes for women entrepreneurs etc will be available through these units.

Kudumbashree Alappuzha District Mission has aimed to implement the project 'Smart Women' through these units to provide e-literacy to all NHG members in Aryad block.

The start-up unit was inaugurated by Ms. K.G. Rajeshwari, President, District Panchayath. Adv. T.V. Ajith Kumar, President, Mannancherry Panchayath, presided over the function. Shri. K.D. Maheendran, President, Block Panchayath, was the chief guest of the function. Shri. Prasanth Babu, District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree, Alappuzha handed over the IT equipments.

Ms. P.A. Jumailath, Vice President, Mannancherry Panchayath, Shri. M.S. Santhosh, Chairman, Development Affairs Standing Committee, Mannancherry Panchayath, Shri. M.G. Suresh, Assistant District Mission Co-ordinator, Kudumbashree, Alappuzha, Ms. K.B. Shanuja, Ms. Ambili Das, CDS Chairpersons, Adv. R. Riyas, Member, District Panchayath and Ms.Soniya, Startup Unit Co-ordinator spoke on the occasion.

'Chalanam 2023', the training for Urban CDS Sub-Committee Conveners is ongoing and the training of two batches have been completed. Training will be given for a total of five batches for four days for each batch. The objective is to empower the sub-committee conveners to intensify the activities of various livelihood schemes and social welfare schemes implemented in urban areas by Kudumbashree. The training for the conveners of the sub-committee on social development and infrastructure development was completed yesterday on 22 February 2023.

The 'Chalanam 2023' training programme was launched on 14 February 2023 with the aim of strengthening the Kudumbashree project activities in urban CDSs and making the benefits of the projects available to every NHG family member. The sub-committee conveners are active participants in the development activities of urban CDSs by intervening on thematic basis in the matters of social development, infrastructural development, ward council, employment security, micro finance livelihood, etc. The aim is to enable them to work together with the CDS and the Urban Local Body. As part of this, a total of 645 people will be trained, 129 people in each batch.

The training programme consisted of detailed classes on Kudumbashree schemes and question and answer session for clearing the doubts regarding. Detailed training will also be provided on the relevance and importance of sub-committees, various funds available to Kudumbashree and own activities of CDS. In addition to classroom training, outdoor training is also provided to all the trainees in collaboration with the District Tourism Promotion Council. The training is conducted under the leadership of State Programme Managers who manage various projects in Kudumbashree State Mission, City Mission Managers and Kudumbashree Core Training Team members. Shri. N.Jagajeevan, Executive Director, Grameena Patana Kendram, Shri. Sajith Sukumaran, Chief Operating Officer, Kudumbashree National Resource Organization, Shri. A.Jahamgeer, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree  and Shri. P. Kesavan Nair, Former Programme Officer presented various topics in the training programme.

The third batch of training for Livelihood Sub-Committee Conveners will be organized from 6 to 9 March 2023. The fourth batch of training for Ward Sabha and Employment Sub-Committee Conveners will be organized from 11 to 14 March 2023. The training for Micro Finance Sub-Committee Conveners from 16 to 19 March 2023.

'Thozhilarangathekku', the Exclusive Job Fair for Women being held across the state is making notable achievement. 'Thozhilarangathekku' Job Fair is becoming the idea and hope of lakhs of women who are unable to find a job and earn on their own despite having completed graduation and post graduation.

In the job survey conducted by Kudumbashree, 53 lakh job seekers were found. Out of them 58% were women. Therefore, it is with the aim of creating maximum employment for educated women, the Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission (KKEM) is organizing 'Thozhilarangathekku' job fair at the district level for the Government of Kerala.

As of 22 February 2023, 'Thozhilarangathekku' Job Fair has been organized in eight districts. Out of a total of 5210 women participants, 3504 were shortlisted by the companies. 394 employers participated in the fair. A total of 8597 interviews were conducted. 417 job seekers participated in the 'Thozhilarangathekku' Job Fair organized at Alappuzha from 8 am to 5 pm on 22 February 2023. The fair will be held in Kollam (23 February), Thiruvananthapuram (24 February), Kannur (25 February), Wayanad (28 February) and Pathanamthitta (04 March) districts in the coming days.

How to participate in the 'Thozhilarangathekku' Job Fair?

Go to Google Play Store on your phone and type 'DWMS CONNECT'. Check out the 'DWMS CONNECT', the app developed by Knowledge Economy Mission, Government of Kerala. Install it on the phone and complete the profiling by entering information about your education, work experience, skills etc. Apply for the suitable jobs available in the app and attend the Job Fair. Spot registration will also be available at the Job Fair for those who could not complete the registration earlier. For more information and queries, one can contact the nearest Kudumbashree CDS office or Community Ambassador.

Kudumbashree women from Thrissur produced 128 tonnes of vegetables through the 'Polima Puthukkad' Programme of Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission. Shri. P. Prasad, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Kerala inaugurated the second phase of the cultivation of the 'Polima Puthukkad' Programme, which is progressing with the goal of producing green and safe vegetables, at Kaithavalappil Garden, Nandikkara, Thrissur on 17 February 2023.

Puthukkad constituency has achieved success by implementing the idea of the state government to develop and implement plans to achieve self-sufficiency in the field of food production through the innovative project called 'Polima Puthukkad'. 40,000 Kudumbashree women who are members of 2411 NHGs in eight panchayats of the constituency cultivated 128 tonnes of vegetables in 126 hectares of land!

Shri. K.K. Ramachandran, MLA, Puthukkad Constituency, presided over the function. Awards were distributed to the NHGs who had performed well at the panchayath level and the constituency level in the first phase. The Nanma NHG of Mattathur Gram Panchayath, which cultivated in a land of an acre and 40 cents, came first in the constituency level. Soundarya NHG of Vallachira and Friendship NHG of Nenmanikkara bagged the second and third positions.

The NHGs that won Awards in the CDS level includes

1. Puthukkad (Vijayashree, Shreyas, Tulasi)

2. Alagappanagar (Devi, Jeeva, Devishree)
3. Mattathur (Nanma, Puthuma, Kairali)
4. Nenmanikkara (Sauhrudha, Pratheeksha, Aishwarya)
5. Thrikoor (Udaya, Shanti, Angel Rose)
6. Varantharapilly (Sneha, Anashwara, Sneha)
7. Vallachira (Soundarya, Thalir, Rupashree)
8. Parappukkara (Sreelakshmi, Navodaya, Bhagyashree).

The project is being implemented through the effective convergence of local bodies, Kudumbashree, Department of Agriculture, Co-operative Institutions and Employment Guarantee Scheme. Kudumbashree's Agri Nutri Garden scheme also provided assistance to the members. The first phase was started on 24 October 2022. The main objectives of Polima are food security, making barren land cultivable, increasing interest in agriculture, terrace cultivation etc. The Representatives of Three-tier Panchayath, Co-operative Bank Presidents, Kudumbashree officials, representatives of other departments and NHG members participated in the function.