The Kudumbashree district mission has launched an initiative to provide additional sources of income for Haritha Karma Sena members.
The Haritha Karma Sena is a collaborative venture of the Kudumbashree with the Haritha Kerala Mission and the Suchitwa Mission.
The green force of the Kudumbashree is essentially involved in waste management activities.
There are 2,095 Haritha Karma Sena members in grama panchayats in the district. Of them, 1,030 members have registered with the Kudumbashree community development societies as Haritha Karma microenterprises for waste management. There are 84 such microenterprises with five to 10 members in each.
The Kudumbashree is now promoting additional income microenterprises so as to provide more sources of income for these Haritha Karma Sena members and improve their lives. Kudumbashree officials say that since waste management activities leave time free, the Haritha Karma Sena can take up other activities to earn extra income.
The focus is on production of environment friendly products such as paper bag, cloth bag, stitching units, plant nurseries, and the like. Event management and even a couple of coffee shops are being promoted.
So far, 43 additional income microenterprise units, with nearly 500 members, have been formed.
Plant nursery, cloth and paper bag making units, catering and event management are some of the popular microenterprises.
Mentors are being selected from within Kudumbashree as per guidelines given by the Kudumbashree State mission for supporting the Haritha Karma Sena units.
There will be one mentor for three panchayats. The mentors will explore the possibilities for earning a sustainable income from these additional income units and provide marketing support too.
Kudumbashree officials say they are trying to create awareness about the additional income microenterprises so that more Haritha Karma Sena members can become a part of it.
