Saras Mela 2017, the national food and cultural expo organised by Kudumbashree Mission, offering the best of traditional food and artistry carved out a new era in the history by drawing huge crowds. Around two lakh people had already visited the programme. Saras Mela was kickstarted when Shri.P. Shriramakrishnan, Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly officially inaugurated the programme at Safari Maidan, Edappal, Malappuram on 25 August 2017.

Micro entrepreneurs from 25 states across the country had joined the programme . Around 240 stalls were opened. Saras Mela is becoming a huge success by the active participation of the people. 15 food stalls were also opened at 'The India Gate' food court offering a chance to taste wide range of cuisines from different parts of the country. 5 stalls of 'Cafe Kudumbashree' is also set up at the venue. The cultural programmes arranged daily at the mela was indeed a visual treat for those who gathered. Artists and celebrities also took part in the programme. Saras Mela is attracting more and more people and are adding more colour to the festive days of Kerala. The Mela will come to an end on 3 September 2017.

As part of the state government’s effort to draw up a sustainable housing programme for the shelter less in the state, Kudumbashree conducted a survey from 15-25 July 2017.

3174 people are identified as homeless from 93 Urban Local Bodies of 14 districts. Out of them, 2625 are gents, 564 are ladies and 6 are transgenders. Calicut is the Urban local body and Ernakulam is the district with maximum number of street dwellers. Out of the identified street dwellers 61 % are from the 17 urban local bodies -Calicut, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Sulthan Bathery, Kannur, Kollam, Thrissur, Kottayam, Palakkad, Thalassery, Vadakara, Kunnamkulam, Alappuzha, Chalakkudy, Kalpetta, Kazargode and Angamaly.

Half of the identified homeless are between the age limit of 41-60. It is understood that 2106 had been dwelling in the street for more than one year. 1465 are coolie workers, 221 people are street vendors and 679 people are beggars. Idukki district has the lowest number of urban homeless. There are only 38 street dwellers in Idukki. Pathanamthitta and Kasargode also holds comparatively lower number of Street dwellers. There are only 59 & 68 street dwellers in Pathanamthitta and Kazargode respectively.

The survey collected information about their age, marital status, income occupation, native place, health issues and problems faced by them during the late night hours. The identified homeless will then be provided with round-the-clock shelter homes equipped with essential services.

Sustainable shelter homes would be built in each urban centre across the state, according to the number of homeless identified in the survey.The shelter homes would provide adequate security, sanitation facilities and drinking water for the homeless people.

The 'Shelter for Urban Homeless' scheme is being implemented as part of the National Urban Livelihood Mission and Kudumbashree, the nodal agency of the program in the state. A team, comprising members of the National Urban Livelihood Mission, corporation, municipality, health department and the police, would conduct the survey. Inclusion cards were distributed to the people who were identified as homeless. The pilot study conducted to find the urban homeless had already identified 250 as homeless.

Dynamic and efficient management information system (MIS) has been developed to capture the Pre onam market activity. The data from the village level markets are captured and collated to generate useful reports for better monitoring and planning.

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Kudumbashree received work order of 1.5 crore from lottery department for stitching uniform for the members of the Kerala State Lottery Agents & Sellers Welfare Fund Board. As per the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Shri. S Harikishore, Executive Director of Kudumbashree and Shri. S. Karthikeyan, Chief Executive Officer of Kerala State Lottery Agents & Sellers Welfare Fund Board, Kudumbashree will stitch 50,000 uniforms at a rate of Rs 300 per Uniform. 
The 17 apparel units working under Kudumbashree would be benefitted out of this association. Kudumbashree had already been stitching uniforms for Kochi Metro, Karunya Pharmacy and Hantex. Except for Hantex, the cloth for stitching uniforms is procured by Kudumbashree itself. Kudumbashree apparel units are getting more work orders, because of the timely execution of the received work orders. And from now onwards, Lottery Agents & sellers of Kerala would be seen in uniforms stitched by Kudumbashree.

Kudumbashree Products will be served at the Onasadya of KTDC Hotels. Kudumbashree and KTDC are looking forward into their first convergence programme to be initiated during this Onam season. The different Micro Enterprises in the state will be benefited out of this association. The Banana cultivated by the Joint Liability Groups (JLG) of Kudumbashree will be used for preparing banana chips & sarkaravaratty. It is expected that this association will give a new life to the Marketing of Kudumbashree Products. As per the order, Kudumbashree will deliver 95 Kg of Banana Chips and 95 Kg of Sarkaravaratty to the selected hotels in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki, Palakkad, Kannur and Malappuram. The Banana Chips & Sarkaravaratty will be served at a rate of Rs 354 & Rs 400 respectively. Kudumbashree also plans to deliver ethnic products to KTDC not only during onam season but also on special days. By this association, the guests from foreign countries staying at KTDC Hotels will also get opportunity to taste Kerala’s traditional products made by Kudumbashree members.

Kudumbashree hopes to cover 1 million members in six months through mKRISHI App. The solution for difficulties in communication between mission and members was developed by Tata Consultancy Services.
This app is a modified version of mKRISHI App developed by TCS for farming community. The complete development customisation and back end support is provided by TCS as part of their CSR activities, making it completely free for Kudumbashree. This app works on all Android mobiles and allows messages to be communicated in Malayalam language directly to the members. This app will create a direct and quick communication channel for the members with the mission staff.

The mKRISHI initiative offers personalised and integrated services in local languages to farmers on their mobile phones. The service aims to enable farmers in remote areas to connect to their stakeholders, access good quality agricultural inputs, find advice on farming practices, and get information on market prices, weather and other information that can help in planning and boosting yields.

mKRISHI App aims to connect illiterate, semi illiterate, and literate farmers from remote villages to be an expert in their districts for seeking personalised advice. This represents a big step forward that goes beyond the delivery of price and market information via mobile phones.

Kudumbashree is to join hands with the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat in facilitating Village Fieldwork Segment of their two years Post Graduate Programme in Rural Management. The Institute of Rural Management Anand is India`s leading school in rural management committed to act as the catalyst and facilitator of rural prosperity, who educates those inspired to work with organisations serving the rural sector and engaging directly with rural communities. The students of IRMA will spend 7 weeks continuously in a village in Kerala. During their stay the students will get an opportunity to observe and experience village life and engage in exploring the lives and livelihoods of village residents. They will also be able to explore their hopes, aspirations, potential for change and the various constraints they face. Students from different parts of the country will get the opportunity to learn in detail about the livelihood of the villagers and the notable interventions made by Kudumbashree in the state.

Kudumbashree is equipped to make new remarkable interventions for the betterment of the livelihood of the common people in the state. A new team of experienced professionals from various sectors joined Kudumbashree Mission. The newly joined Professionals will be working at the state mission and district mission to make sure that the projects designed and implemented for the social and economic empowerment of women are reaching out to the grass root level. Around 200 professionals from various sectors were appointed in various schemes of Kudumbashree Mission. A Two day Residential Orientation programme was also conducted for the newly joined team to understand the different programmes of Kudumbashree Mission.

The 'Gothra Parliament ' organised by Kudumbashree to study the issues faced by the tribal students in the state set a unique model.The parliament arranged to study in detail, the issues faced by the students from the tribal areas was conducted at the Old Legislative Assembly Hall on 9 August 2017. Selected 192 Students from Attappady took part in the programme. Stop the discrimination that the tribal students face, arrange higher education, construct toilets in schools, promote ethnic food in the 'Anganvadis', support those children who lost their parents in continuing their education, increase the participation of the tribal students in state youth festivals and sports meets were the issues discussed at the 'Gothra Parliament'.

The issues put forward by the students would be compiled and the reports would be sent to the concerned departments. As a follow-up, Bala Adalats would also be arranged.
On attending the 'Gothra Parliament' Shri. C. Raveendranath, Hon. Minister for Education, Government of Kerala said that priority would be given for constructing hostels for tribal girl students in the state. He added that libraries would also be set up for the tribal students.The ' Gothra Parliament ' was conducted under the leadership of Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission.

Kudumbashree endeavors to create village level vegetable markets to provide remunerative prices to farmers and good quality, farm fresh, pesticide free products to the consumers. 2000 village level markets have planned in the month of August, through which more than 4000 tons of vegetable cultivated by the members of Kudumbashree would be sold directly to the consumers. Please visit the following link to know the venues and dates

Kudumbashree Pre Onam Markets - Aug 07 to 16

Kudumbashree Pre Onam Markets - Aug 17 to 26

Kudumbashree Pre Onam Markets - Aug 27 onwards

Kudumbashree Pre Onam Markets - Photos