The Hindu Business Line : Kudumbashree to open `design shops'

Thiruvananthapuram May 15 The Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Kudumbashree, is celebrating its ninth anniversary with a number of projects to aid poverty alleviation, strengthen micro-enterprises and empower women.

Announcing this at a press conference today, the Kerala Local Self Government Minister, Mr Paloli Mohammed Kutty, said the Chief Minister, Mr V. S. Achuthanandan, would inaugurate the anniversary celebrations here on Wednesday.

On the anvil is a State-wide network of retail outlets to sell products manufactured by micro-enterprises that are part of the Kudumbashree initiative. To be branded `Designer Shop', the outlets will be based on a common design and will cover an area of at least 200 sq feet.

Urban haat

According to Mr S .M. Vijayanand, Principal Secretary, Local Self Government, there are plans to set up an `urban haat' in Kochi to sell products made by the State's traditional craftsmen. Measures are also being taken to standardise the products manufactured by Kudumbashree units, he added.

Kudumbashree also plans to set up rural business hubs to promote agricultural products and traditional industries. A pilot rural business hub will be set up in Thiruvananthapuram and will focus on manufacturing value-added banana products.

Finishing school

The Minister said that efforts are on to set up finishing schools to equip unemployed rural youth with new skills that will help them find jobs. The finishing school programme is expected to involve an investment of Rs 2.5 crore and would equip 15,000 youth to find jobs during the 11th Plan period, the Minister added. Kudumbashree has also tied up with the Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Foundation to provide training to 5,000 youngsters in Kerala.

Till March this year, the Kudumbashree network had mobilised Rs 840 crore as savings and disbursed Rs 2,130 crore as loans to its members, he said. As part of its anniversary celebrations, the organisation is looking at mobilising Rs 500 crore as loan assistance through linkage banking.

Other projects on the cards include a micro finance company, a vocational business school and a gender resource centre. Kudumbashree also plans to set up teams of medical volunteers to visits households and to set up geriatric-care centres on an experimental basis.

More Stories on : Rural Development | Events | Gender | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page