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| Victorious Strides on an Innovative Development Track - 4 |
Kudumbashree Travels – Women on Wheels
Edakkattuvayal is small village near Piravom town in Ernakulam district. Congested with a farmers’ population this village has very poor roads and no private bus services. Even when a private bus service is started it gets stopped in no time because of the road conditions. All attempts to get a KSRTC (Public Transport) bus service, too, were futile.
It was in these circumstances that the Panchayath administrative committee thought of beginning its own bus service, says K.R. Jayakumar, President of the Panchayath. It was decided to entrust the responsibility of the bus service to the Kudumbashree women who were active in all the programmes and activities of the village. CDS chairperson Ramani Ayyappan says that though there was no previous experience in running a bus service, Kudumbashree decided to undertake it; so hard it was to get a mode of conveyance here. Even for a small trip people had to depend on autorikshaws. The only other alternative was to cover any distance on foot.
Rs. 3 lakhs was granted from the Panchayath Plan Fund, for the bus. Bank loan, the shares taken by six women entrepreneurs, subsidy from the District Mission; still the fund raised was not enough. The problem was solved by including four people from ‘Yuvashree’ the youth section of Kudumbashree. The bus, ultimately bought for Rs. 18 lakhs, was named
‘Kudumbashree Travels’.
The six active partners in this venture are Maya Santhosh, Biji Prasad, K. N. Sarala, Ramani Sajeevan, Bindu Valsan and Sheeba Sashi. All of them have got the conductor’s license. Three are learning to drive. Three women will go as conductors and door-checkers everyday. The only male now is the driver. Ramani Ayyappan assures that this will change and bangled hands will hold the steering wheel from next year.
The members are of the view that though the bus does not bring in much profit, the venture gives them enough to live on. A bus service is different from other ventures. It incurs a lot of expenses like insurance, tax and maintenance costs. The six of them take as wages just what they need. Now the bus runs in the Piravom- Thrippunithura route.
The number of the members of Edakkattuvayal CDS which has been selected as the best in the state is around 2000. Most of them are busy seeking their living through some enterprise - goat village, tailoring unit, hotel, catering, Amrutham smart plus, group-farming, buffalo calf breeding, manufacture of napkins and soaps, etc. Most Kudumbasree ventures are very active here.
Edakkattuvayal CDS won great applause collecting 17 lakh rupees in one day as donations for the liver transplant operation of the student Swathi Krishna who got the attention of the whole state.
‘Bhagyasree’ with Auto-taxi
The Ernakulam District Mission also came forward with the novel idea of auto-taxis driven by women. This venture has been named Bhagyashree. This is carried out in Kochi city. Five ladies seek their fortunes in five auto-taxis, inaugurated on the 1st of November, Kerala Birth Day.
The District Mission Officer Mrs. Tani Thomas says that there are plans to expand the service in co-operation with the Railways, even arranging toll-free phones for auto - taxis for the passengers.
In other districts also there are auto-taxis run by Kudumbashree women.
Ladies’ only Nano taxi
Ladies’ only Nano taxi service is the latest step implemented by Kudumbashree for safe travel for women. The first experiment has been in the capital city of Thiruvananthpuram. It was seven women who entered the ‘scene’ in Nano taxis as drivers. To expand this service which was inaugurated on the 26th of November, fifty women who have learnt driving are being trained.
Families that come with women can also travel in these Nano taxis. Arrangements have been made to book the taxi in advance through sms or e-mail. Ladies’ Nano comes equipped with modern facilities such as GPS, camera and driver’s cabin, etc to ensure safe travel.
Many are the ventures
There are about ten thousand micro ventures in the state. Mentioning the areas where they are not is easier than pointing out all the areas where they are. So varied and wide are the series of ventures which aim at reducing poverty and regional economic development. Kudumbashree’s style of functioning is to grant permission and provide training for any enterprise. Services of 230 Micro Enterprise Consultants are arranged too, for the entrepreneurs.
Kudumbashree women are in demand to clean the Thrissur Pooram (the world famous festival) premises once the festival is over. There is one NHG in Ernakulam which has made the washing and cleaning of passenger trains as its venture. In Kottarakkara a women’s group takes up the construction of Shamiyanas, while in Wayanad they conduct ‘Panchari melam’. (traditional drum concert conducted before a grand function). In Kollam it is the making of preparing screwpine leaves for mat making; in Wayanad: dry-flower making; in Munnar strawberry unit; in Alapuzha it is the manufacturing of special coconut-oil making; in Thirvananthapuram: cloth-bag making; garment making unit in Malappuram; in Kochi it is women masons. Hundreds of women found means of living in varied ways, each different from the other from honey collection to the making of traditional Aranmulakkannadi (mirror).
Today the situation is such that Kudumbashree women cannot be kept away from anything even from waste collection, management, plastic collection, etc.
They come, with the original tastes
There is yet another group who comes to our houses. They come to us with pickles, dried items for frying, rice flour, chilly, turmeric and coriander powders. They are also entrepreneurs who, either individualy or in groups make food products and sell them door to door. There are more than six hundred Home Shoppers under Kudumbashree.
Besides door to door sales there are also Home Shops. Two thousand and four hundred home shops have been opened in all districts to market the products prepared by Kudumbashree women. The average net monthly income from these sales is Rs. 6000000. Fourteen management groups are there to give the lead to this enterprise which is branching out fast.
The Onam and Ramzan festival fairs are another form of such enterprise. Food products which rouse nostalgic memories are sold in these fairs and those in this venture sell products worth lakhs of rupees. The total turn-over from the 1034 Onam fairs last year was Rs.31.51 crores. Number of women participated in the fairs was 46,950. Last year the total turn-over was Rs. 26.48 crores.
Ready We are, to be Modern!
There is yet another venture called KAASS - Kudumbashree Auditing and Accounting Service Society, which consists of three hundred B.Com graduates from among the members. They offer services in auditing and book-keeping. They also do book work related to Kudumbashree ventures and give training in it.
Another section is the IT units. Sixty two IT units run by those with computer education are there working under Kudumbashree. They take up data-entry work including that of government and semi-government institutions. The association of the IT Groups - Unnathi Consortium is ready to take up big responsibilities also.
Arogyashree for Health Care
If you want to get your B.P. and blood sugar level checked at home on minimal rates, Kudumbashree has arrangements for that also. Women volunteers of Santhwanam (means relief) will come to you on two-wheelers. They are those who have been trained under the organization HAP - Health Action for People. Two hundred and thirty Santhwanam volunteers are there in various districts waiting for your call.
There is a move to step into home-nursing also. Kollam District Panchayath was the first to organize this. Women are given special training in nursing the sick and taking care of the aged. Kudumbashree is already active in the field of Pain and Palliative Care through the Ashraya Project.
Very sweet is the success of women in so many ventures. For, poverty was the common companion of all of them. There were many who had food just once a day. Therefore they enjoy the change that has come out of their own hard work.
Super-hit, these Micro Employment Ventures!
The Number of the Micro Employment Ventures Under Kudumbashree
| District |
Ventures |
Benficiaries |
| Alapuzha |
3037 |
13859 |
| Ernakulam |
4186 |
21642 |
| Idukki |
1915 |
8965 |
| Kannur |
2347 |
10620 |
| Kasargod |
1048 |
5629 |
| Kollam |
2131 |
11951 |
| Kottayam |
1150 |
6038 |
| Kozhikode |
1405 |
7454 |
| Malappuram |
2536 |
9937 |
| Palaghat |
3492 |
17684 |
| Pathanamthitta |
1222 |
8200 |
| Thiruvananthapuram |
3801 |
27229 |
| Thrissur |
3031 |
14685 |
| Wayanad |
868 |
5319 |
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| Total |
32169 |
169272 |
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