The District Kudumbashree Mission is gearing up to penetrate gated communities and high-income groups through its auxiliary agencies to maximise its reach and, in the process, turn a bulwark against drug menace and gender inequality.
The move assumes significance in the wake of a surge in cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and a rise in the influx of premium party drugs like MDMA into the district, especially into Kochi city. Last month, a 23-year-old man was found murdered, which, according to the police, was the fallout of drug dealings. His body was shoved into a duct on the 16th floor of an apartment complex at Kakkanad.
“As of now, Kudumbashree has little access to high-income groups, including in high-rise apartments. Hence, our activities against drug and alcohol addiction and gender insensitive practices like dowry hardly have any impact on such communities. We feel that our auxiliary groups are the best way to reach out to them,” said Preethy M.B., district coordinator in-charge, Kudumbashree Mission, Ernakulam.
The Kudumbashree auxiliary groups were launched across the State in October 2021, and they predominantly aim at the empowerment of educated women aged between 18 and 40 years, primarily through financial independence. Ernakulam has 1,100 such groups. Unlike Kudumbashree, in which only one woman named in the ration card of a household can enrol, there are no such limits in the case of these groups.
Since the groups predominantly cater for younger women, the idea is to canvass their peers, thus penetrating gated communities. “We propose to expand the activities of Snehitha, Kudumbashree’s gender help desk, focusing on drug and alcohol addiction and gender equality, to these apartment complexes,” said Ms. Preethy.
Kudumbashree already has Snehitha@School and Snehitha@College as part of its anti-drug clubs and proposes to rope in women aged 18 and above from these initiatives into auxiliary groups as well.
Kudumbashree had organised an anti-drug online campaign across all neighbourhood groups with the help of its 37 community counsellors last year. Besides, 2,200 vulnerable hotspots were identified across the district by collating data online. “Hotspots were identified, among other factors, on account of the availability of drugs. Data was passed on to Excise authorities for follow-up action, though it is yet to be initiated. We are about to send another reminder to the department,” said Ms. Preethy.
