Election to neighbourhood groups, area development societies and community development societies under the State Kudumbashree Mission is to be scheduled on December 20 to enable a fresh set of leaders to take charge by January 26, 2022.
There are a total of 3.5 lakh members of the Kudumbashree Mission in Ernakulam district under 27,000 neighbourhood groups and 101 community development societies. The organisation has flourished, finding employment opportunities for women and providing them social and economic support through a number of group-based activities that range from micro-enterprises to social empowerment activities.
Mission sources said the elections to the three-tier Kudumbashree setup had been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 lockdown as well as last year’s elections to local government bodies. The Kudumbashree office bearers are elected for a period of three years.
One of the most significant efforts by the Mission has been to float joint liability groups (JLGs) for promoting agricultural activities. There are a total of 5,872 JLGs in the Ernakulam district and 26,203 women are involved in cultivating a total extent of 2,495 hectares. The crops being cultivated range from banana to vegetables and paddy.
The Kudumbashree Poverty Eradication Mission is an offshoot of the People’s Plan Campaign with focus on decentralised planning. The State Government ordered the formation of a State Poverty Eradication Mission in the State Budget for 1997-98 and the mission mode programme was inaugurated in Malappuram in May 1998.
It has been envisaged that the three tiers of the Kudumbashree functioning would remain independent of the local self-government bodies, with the CDS organisations being accountable to the local bodies for the funds received from them.
