Micro-enterprises development is an important strategy of the Kudumbashree Mission for the economic empowerment of women.
The members are encouraged to start micro-enterprises using local resources, provided skill training, financial assistance, and marketing support by the mission. Though many of their products are well appreciated in the local market, the dearth of a proper network for marketing is a major obstacle to sell the products.
However, the Wayanad Kudumbashree Mission has solved the issue to an extent by setting up ‘Kudumbashree bazaars’ in towns with the support of local administrative bodies. “We have set up the first such market at Kambalakkad, near Kalpetta, with the support of the Wayanad district panchayat,” Kudumbashree district coordinator P. Sajitha said.
“The panchayat provided 850 sq ft at its building near the town free of charge for the purpose,” she said.
Now, the members of about 300 micro-enterprises and 115 Kudumbashree entrepreneurs in the district are selling their 150 different products through the market, she said.
“We are planning to set up two more bazars in the district apart from 36 nano markets,” Ms. Sajitha added.
‘Tribal Plus’ project
To attract more tribal people to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the State government in association with the Kudumbashree Mission has launched the ‘Tribal Plus’ project in Wayanad. Delay in payment has deterred the tribes from joining the job scheme.
The Tribal Plus project is aimed at attracting more tribal families to the scheme by providing more working days and ensuring wages by the end of the week. The government has earmarked ₹5.12 crore for the project. The project, implemented in three grama panchayats, is being extended to all grama panchayats. It could generate 13,82,376 person days for tribal workers under the scheme till March 20 this year as against 10,15,456 person days during the corresponding period last year, P.G. Vijayakumar, MGNREGA joint programme coordinator, Wayanad, said.
A farmer-producer company to empower women dairy farmers, said to be the first such initiative in the country, is another achievement of the mission. The company was started by 105 women at Padinharethara with a share capital of ₹7.80 lakh in 2014. Now it has assets of ₹70 lakh. “We collect nearly 500 litres of milk a day from our members providing higher price and make value-added products, instead selling it directly in open market,” says Geetha Vijayan, Chief Executive Officer, of the company.