The Hindu Business Line : Empowering women, Kudumbashree way

As an experiment in socioeconomic development, the Kudumbashree experiment in Kerala deserves a pat on the back and ought to be replicated in other States.

K.G. Kumar

It’s been called a “silent revolution” and for once that appellation seems to sit well on the shoulders of Kudumbashree, the women-oriented community-based poverty alleviation programme being implemented in Kerala by the State Government, with the active support of the Government of India and the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Started in 1999, the project aims at eradicating absolute poverty in 10 years “through concerted community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments by facilitating organisation of the poor, combining self-help with demand -led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestations of poverty, holistically,” according to the Kudumbashree Mission Statement.

The Kudumbashree experiment revolves around three critical components – micro-credit, entrepreneurship and empowerment. Neighborhood groups of women from poor families, identified on the basis of risk indices, have been formed all over the State.

These women’s collectives implement the various projects of Kudumbashree.

In the light of the fact that anti-poverty programmes seldom reach the marginalised destitutes, Kudumbashree has formulated a specific project with the assistance of the Central Government to reach out to the downtrodden and neglected all over the State. Over a hundred panchayats of the State have already come up with individual specific projects for destitute care and rehabilitation.

The Central Government has already released an amount of Rs 8 crore to Kudumbashree for the destitute rehabilitation and tracking programme and IT-enabled services to the poor. The State Government has earmarked Rs 2.5 crore for Kudumbashree in the State budget.

Mission Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sharada Muraleedharan was recently quoted in The Hindu as saying that Kudumbasree has developed into the largest community structure for women in the State. The CEO claims that Kudumbashree has addressed the basic needs of Kerala’s underprivileged women. Thrift collection has soared to Rs 1,000 crore over the last five to six years, bank loans for Rs 700 crore have been raised and around Rs 2,800 crore has circulated within the system, she was quoted as saying.

Micro-enterprises

Kudumbashree utilises the provision provided in Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY), the Centrally sponsored poverty alleviation programme, to encourage the setting up of micro-enterprises. Two components of SJSRY, namely, the Urban Self-Employment Programme (USEP) and the Scheme for Development of Women and Children in the Urban Areas (DWCUA) provide scope for an alternative strategy to reach out to the poor and achieve financially sustainable growth.

More than 13,650 USEP micro enterprises (individual beneficiary oriented) and 1,148 DWCUA micro enterprises (group activities of women) have already cropped up in Kerala under the Kudumbashree project. Apart from entrepreneurship initiatives, Kudumbashree also empowers women through awareness classes and leadership training.

In this way, Kudumbashree represents a departure from the conventional, non-coordinated, income-based programmes implemented in the past by different Government agencies.

The delivery costs of such conventional programmes have been exorbitant, and, worse, they are prone to under-reporting and manipulation by both beneficiaries and officialdom. On the other hand, the Kudumbashree philosophy is to view poverty as a multi-phased phenomenon that calls for a holistic approach to tackle its multiple manifestations.

One example of Kudumbashree’s positive intervention relates to coconut oil. When the price of coconuts came down alarmingly, Kerala’s farmers were badly affected. Kudumbashree’s solution was to set up coconut oil extraction and marketing units in the central and northern districts of the State, under a common brand, called Kerashree.

These units produce copra, extract coconut oil and market it. Coconut oil being the principal cooking medium of Keralites, the Kerashree units found marketing their products relatively easy.

Similarly, when the State Government decided to introduce information technology (IT) education in Kerala’s high schools under IT@school programme, Kudumbashree seized the opportunity and began to set up Vidyashree computer units in all the 14 districts of Kerala.

Three flowers

The official Kudumbashree logo succintly sums up the organisation’s philosophy and approach. Three violet flowers with green stems – violet signifying women’s emancipation and green, prosperity.

The three flowers stand for economic empowerment, social empowerment and women’s empowerment. And Kudumbashree’s slogan is apposite enough: “Reaching out to families through women and reaching out to the community through families”.

As an experiment in socioeconomic development, which may even be regarded as some kind of social engineering, Kudumbashree certainly deserves more than a mere pat on the back. Other States ought to borrow a leaf from Kudumbashree’s book of experiences for adaptation to local conditions.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com