Thiruvananthapuram has become the first district in the State to have formed Kudumbashree auxiliary groups in all its wards.
Auxiliary groups have been formed in all 1,546 wards in the district, and 25,802 young women have been included in the groups so far.
One additional group each has been formed in Poovar and Venganoor grama panchayats, and two in Parassala, taking the total number of auxiliary groups to 1,550.
The Kudumbashree auxiliary groups aim at empowerment of educated women between the ages of 18 and 40, primarily through achievement of financial independence.
The groups will bring more women into the Kudumbashree network, and, in turn, into the mainstream of society.
The thrust will be on utilising the skills of the women so that they can find self-employment, rather than join the ranks of the unemployed despite being educated. This will help in improving the financial condition of their families, thereby strengthening social development. The groups can not only engage in cultural activities, but also become a platform to raise voice against anti-social issues and make effective interventions at the grassroot level.
The groups, with a maximum of 50 members, will help find livelihood opportunities for the women.
Member
More than one person from each household can be a member of the auxiliary groups. The groups can form sub-groups or consortiums according to their needs.
Now, that the groups have been formed, steps are on for setting up activity groups.
Says Kudumbashree district mission coordinator K.R. Shaiju, “We are focussing on setting up activity groups of the auxiliary groups women in order to launch bigger ventures. For instance, an activity group could comprise women who have BTech. degrees across the wards in a panchayat. These women could try and launch a small computer start-up or a hardware or mobile repairs and assembling venture.
The three-tier panchayat system can be used to provide funding to the new businesses.
MLA proposals
MLAs in the district too have come forward with proposals to provide employment to women in their constituencies.
D.K. Murali, Vamanapuram MLA, has proposed an apparel park for the women. The Vamanapuram block has undertaken to provide a building to the Kudumbashree for the apprarel park, and a stitching unit, with 30 machines, will come up there in the first phase.
Mr. Shaiju says Kudumbashree is thinking bigger and planning to get women who have studied fashion designing to expand to more lucrative enterprises.
In Kattakada, the grama panchayat under the leadership of I.B. Satheesh, MLA, is planning to start projects for auxiliary group women. Discussions for the project preparation are in the second phase.
In Aruvikkara, G. Stephen, MLA, is targeting employment opportunities for 500 women by starting various units in eight panchayats.
Gender resource centre
Mr. Shaiju says the if the auxiliary groups want to intervene in social issues such as gender, domestic violence, and the like, the services of Snethita, gender resource centre or community counsellors can be utilised.
