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Home Page News and Society Economics Kudumbhasree in Kerala State is Jeopardize or Conducive?
Kudumbhasree in Kerala State is Jeopardize or Conducive?
Author: Nidheesh K B | Posted: 27-09-2007 | Comments: 0 | Views: 2 | Ads by Google

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I. Introduction
The south Indian state of Kerala has long been held up as a model of development. It is often cited as an example of what public action and mass mobilization can achieve in conjunction with responsive democratic governments. Caste reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and peasant and labor movements in the second half of the 20th century, led to widespread radical reforms. Despite its poverty, Kerala has achieved human development results that are outstanding in comparison with the rest of India. Gender equality gains (including inclusion of women in education) helped reduce fertility rates and improve maternal and child health. But advances in social development failed to spur economic development. Poverty is a crucial problem facing all developing and underdeveloped countries in the modern world. It is felt that the problem of poverty can be solved through a concerted effort by the State. Feasible opportunities can be provided to the deprived and the destituteby means of lending asset creating facilities. Women
households are the cruelest victims of deprivation and destitution. So any poverty eradication programs must aim at improving the standard of living environment of the women communities. It is through creating livelihood opportunities for the women that they can be archived ,and the micro credit and self help groupings are a better sources for improving the standard of living of people. Inspired by the innovations in participatory development in the early and mid-1990s the Govt of Kerala, India, initiated Kudumbashree in 1998 to alleviate poverty in the state by 2008 by empowering women through collective action . The Government of Kerala State in India has introduced a novel scheme of poverty eradication based on micro finance namely Kudumbashree the scheme aims at improving the living levels of the poor women in rural and urban areas. It seeks to bring the poor women folks together to form the grass root organizations to help enhance their economic security. The projects aim at removing poverty among rural women households through setting up of micro credit and productive enterprises. The activities such as micro credit and micro enterprises under the scheme were undertaken by the locally formed Community Development Societies consisting of rural house holds .This Paper aims at examining the women empowerment is the best strategy for poverty eradication through Kudumbashree projects on the rural and urban poor. The locally formed Community Development Societies consisting poor women are undertaking the activities such as micro-credit and micro-enterprises To facilitate collective action , Kudumbashree focuses on formation and capacity buildind of three-tiered, community –based organizations of poor women is known as community development societies.
. The Kudumbashree programme of Kerala is a global acknowledged model of poverty eradication and women empowerment at grass root level with the gender environment and democratice process components intersecting with each other successfully. The programme has been found very effective since the women got involved with the activities who were home bound earlier and were not able to interact with outsidersare found to be more confident articulate and decision makersThe Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission in 1992 on experimental basis launched an alternative way to identify the poor and to redefine the nature and cause of poverty apart from the conventional methods based on income .This new method was launched in sevan ward of Alapuzha municipality. T he successful CDS model was replicated into various districts of the state with the support of UNICEF and national govermentThrough this act Community DevelopmentSociety system was implemented in all urban local bodies of the state.,theLater the9 point risk indicator were changed according to the needs. The phenomenal success of Alapuzha model encouraged the government to extend the CDSschemes to other district under the name of The Kudumbashree programme Its object is to “ To eradicate absolute proverty in the ten years through concerted community Action under the leadership of Local Self Goverments, by facilitating organization of the poor combaining selp help with demand led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimension and manifestation of poverty holistically In society like Kerala women are still the” other” their role in development process is Marginal Kudhumbhashree is a women centred programmes to enable and enlighten the poor women of Kerala to realize their potential and strengthen them to contribute to the development of their family,community and in turn society as awhole.The mission Encourages the resorcefulness of poor women in terms of skills, entrepreneurship and managerial capabilities make them empowered With the active support of the Central Government ofIndia and the National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) the State Government of Kerala launched Kudumbashree for removing absolute poverty within ten years with the full co operation of the Local self governments. Poverty is a multi faceted state of deprivation. Hence a multi-pronged strategy alone can help eradicate poverty. The Mission of the Kudumbashree is,:“ To eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through concerted community action under the leadership of local governments, by facilitating organization of the poor for combining self-help with demand led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestations of poverty , holistically.” Kerala s GDP is higher than India s.But Kerala has achieved success in poverty eradication over the past thirty years.The large proportion of Kerala population falling under the poverty line during the i970s and i980s, the rate higher than overall Indian average with in that 10 span Kerala succeeded in reducing poverty by 36%. The growth rate of per capita GDP grew an average 2.3%per year in Kerala during the 1980s and this number increased to 5.1% during the 1990s but it was during the first period that poverty was greatly reduced.Recent poverty analysis suggest that poverty is less severe in Kerala compared to other area in India.Reduction in poverty can be attributed to various factors, the important one is development of Micro financial institutions

Literature Reviews
Micro finance and women empowerment is a subject that has received growing research
attention in recent years. Several organisations have promoted SHGs taking up the philosophy and approach of successful experiments of extending credit to poor women. Since the early 1980s, a large number of studies have examined the various dimensions of micro finance programmes and women empowerment. Several international organisations like Action-Aid UK, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest), and Overseas Development Authority have conducted case studies and organised workshops in various countries. The workshops had looked mainly into the experiences of different countries and the impact of the micro finance programmes in a cross cultural perspective. Other sources of information include published and unpublished materials including materials from the Micro-Credit Summit (February 1997 and 2001) and action research programmes of IRMA, NIRD, and CIRDAP Digest. Additional information is obtained from Internet websites. Over the years, the “informal sector debate” (Hart, 1973; ILO, 1972) has increased in scope and complexity. Terms such as informality, were used interchangeably with informal activity, sector or economy, self-employment and microenterprise. The popularity of the informal sector concept among policy advisors and governments arose from a convergence of interest in poverty issues and the need for a policy instrument (Tokman, 1987). Governments, international financial institutions, and private foundations found in the concept a common language to co-ordinate their activities and, in the case of governments, to improve their access to international welfare funds earmarked for income-generating activities. In part, the popularity of the informal sector concept comes from its ability to bridge diverse analytical and policy approaches, while its drawback is the inability to integrate approaches or improve analytical usefulness (Peattie, 1987). Though many approaches and perspectives have dominated since 1984, we have focused only on the micro-enterprise development approach. Though new to the informal sector debate, micro-enterprise promotion has evolved from
poverty alleviation activities from the early 1960’s. The proponents of the micro-enterprise development approach are action-oriented, not interested in conceptual issues, and are only marginally concerned with theories of the origin of micro-enterprises (used synonymously with informal sector and poverty). They accept notions of stratification, exploitation, and privileged sectors of society and expand jobs and improve productivity and income. They aim to empower groups and communities through business assistance and development of organisational skills and capacity. They promote, fund, and carry out programmes that address the needs of the poor (Rakowski, 1994). Many micro-enterprises began as charitable and disaster relief organisations operating in rural and urban areas, while others were founded specifically to bring multinational corporate
funds to the aid of the poor. Local groups often had financial support from and strong ties
to international groups, especially during the first five years of operations. Charitable and
welfare organisations started with short-term goals, but work turned out to be never-ending. As a result many found their organisational structure “institutionalising” and their staff “professionalising”. From direct assistance and welfare, they were transformed over time into organisations, which focused on “helping the poor help themselves”. By the early 1970s, their work concentrated on working with neighbourhood or village groups on selfhelp initiatives and grassroots economic projects (Korten, 1987). For these NGOs the shift from charitable work and services to income-generating activities was a natural outgrowth of their collective and cumulative experience in helping organize community groups. Additionally, the expansion of the informal sector, especially in the poor neighbourhoods where NGO activities concentrated, led to an awareness of this sector
of people in regulated, unlicensed, low resource, “marginal” activities which were critical
to the survival of the poor, especially women (who predominated as heads of poor households) (Otero, 1990). The 1970’s marked the promotion of empowerment and social welfare through economic growth.The NGOs of the late 1980s and the early 1990s have been expanding their role. Despite thetime and resources, which NGOs as a group have invested in the poor, a tremendous amountof need remains unmet. NGOs have begun to assume a role of catalyst for micro and macrolevel policies and they engage in dialogues with governments and the private sector. In fact,private sector business leaders, foundations, and corporations has created new local-levelNGOs for promoting micro-enterprise development through “massification” applying theNGO method and philosophy on a broader scale to help increasing number of entrepreneursand poor families (Bejar and Korten, 1987). Massification and overcoming institutionalobstacles demand government and private sector collaboration. In direct contradiction with
the legalists, NGOs stress that the most important role for governments is to provide the
appropriate policy environment for micro-enterprise development (Otero, 1990).
A large number of studies have been undertaken so far by CGAP, NGOs, and donors of
micro-finance programmes highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the programme in various countries. We present below a few studies conducted on SHGs in India – only those that have a direct relevance to the present study. Choudhary (1996), in her study stressed the need for sharpening women’s empowering strategies to make them effective and result-oriented. She pointed out that money earned by poor women is more likely to be spent on the basic needs of life than that by men and that this realisation would bring women as the focus of development efforts. She also examined the advantages of organising women groups thereby creating a new sense of dignity and confidence to tackle their problems with a sense of solidarity and to work together for the cause of economic independence. Shylendra (1998) in his paper attempted to evaluate the performance of eight women SHGs promoted in the Vidaj village by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). Here the SHGs failed to enable members to realise their potential benefits. The reasons identified for the failure were the wrong approach followed in the SHG formation by the team, misconceptions about SHG goals both among the team and the members, and lack of clarity about the concept. The main lessons drawn from the project are the need for creating SHGs based on a clear assessment of the needs of different sections of the society, ensuring clearunderstanding of the concept of SHG among team members involved in promoting SHGs, and enhancing the relevance of SHGs to their members by enabling them to meet effectively their requirements, be it savings or credit or income-generating activities. Gain and Satish (1996) in their paper had described the factors affecting group dynamics and group functioning such as feeling of solidarity and pervasive benefits from group formation, increased awareness of group members, self reliance, and transparency. They feel that dependence on outside source either in material or human terms exist and so the group autonomy is not attained in many cases. Kartar Singh and Jain (1995) in their working paper ‘Evolution and survival of SHGs: Some theoretical and empirical evidences’ explained that there are four stages of group formation: forming, storming, norming, and performing. They identified the factors, which have an impact on group formation as full participation of all members, quality in leadership, some sort of homogeneity among the members, and transparency in operations and functioning of the groups. The study conducted by Karkar (1995) revealed that as the programme was effectively implemented, the monthly income of the beneficiaries had increased substantially. A large number of groups had become mini-banks reducing the dependence on moneylenders. It had also resulted in improving their standards of hygiene and nutrition. The major findings were that the urge for literacy especially for the girl child and the adoption of family planning measures had increased. The process of group dynamics strengthened the networking, homogeneity, and self-esteem of women. The “We can do it” syndrome is a part of their psyche today. The scheme had also provided women the opportunity to sit together, discuss, and share their long-pending problems, and seek joint solutions through sympathetic cooperation and advice. The group thus acts both as a pillar of strength and an information window.
An article (Gramin Vikas, 1995) highlights the role of an innovative saving/credit programme called Podupu Lakshmi that had been successfully launched and carried out in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Podupu Lakshmi is based on a very simple principle of saving a rupee per day/per member. The erstwhile submissive, docile, silent, and meek women changed their psyche into assertive, confident, mobile, articulate, questioning and demanding pressure lobby groups. The aspirations of women for economic prosperity went up and they started climbing up the social ladder through the programme. The other factor for the success was the timely intervention of the government machinery. The careful identification of key government functionaries also led to the success of the programme. In Kerala, however, more than nine years have passed since the programme gained momentum. A few studies were undertaken by experts like Leela Menon (1994), Liliana Marulanda (1994) of UNICEF, and Sarala Gopalan and Hilda Rajan (1996), all of which were generally uncritical and highly appreciative of the programme. The South Malabar Gramin Bank (1998) conducted a ‘Monitoring Study on SHGs’ to examine the progress of the scheme since its implementation in 1995-‘96 in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. About 60 percent of the bank-linked groups were rated as excellent. In a few groups, group dynamics decreased after the credit-linking. The study suggests that in 20 percent of the groups, the organisational set-up should undergo change by replacing the existing members. It identified several weaknesses in the CDS groups such as lack of monitoring; lack of interest among co-ordinators due to non-receipt of allowance which they had been formerly receiving; and static performance of groups. An impact study conducted in seven wards with 2003 risk families in Alappuzha by the Department of Statistics, University of Kerala, revealed that families with less than two meals per day had gone down from 57 percent in 1993 to 44.50 percent in 1996, families with one or more illiterates fell from 26.5 percent to 17.8 percent and families with persons addicted to alcohol declined from 32.5 percent to 22.10 percent. However, the most comprehensive study on SHGs in Kerala has been the one by Oommen (1999). He covered all the districts and municipalities in the State, in which the Urban Community Development Societies were functioning. The study has reviewed the progress of the programme under four heads: impact on poverty, income-generating programmes, thrift and credit societies, and women empowerment. Some of the major findings are the following:
(i) About 51 percent of the households investigated have become non-poor; (ii) Housing conditions in Alappuzha and Malappuram have improved to some extent largely through convergence of resources and inputs from different agencies. (iii) Awareness of various communicable and non-communicable diseases has improved; un-immunised children and incidence of tuberculosis exist in some pockets in Malappuram. (iv) Despite the several advantages, there remain some CDSs which have not promoted Thrift and Credit Societies; (v) The rate of repayment of loans is high; (vi) Efforts to formulate group projects for NHGs as a whole do not exist. CDS has failed in realising the full potential of creating self-employment; (vi) More than 56 percent of NHG households have improved their economic status and 65 percent of the members expected the programme to bring more economic opportunities; (vii) More than 90 percent of the women believed that their collective action against social injustice towards women is inevitable and that the NHGs could play an active role in this regard. The preceding review shows that the strategy of micro-financing through SHGs can help in a big way in eradicating poverty and empowering women. However, what is needed is a real change in the community’s attitude to depart from the traditional approach of highly subsidized support to the promotion of self-help. This is a time-consuming process; but regular follow up and guidance are sure to bring about substantial improvement.

Methodology
This report draws primarily upon the available literature and qualitative data collected from Kudumbashree and its CBOs. In addition to the Kudumbashree office at the district level, the visit included meetings at district offices and Kudumbashree CBOs (urban and rural) in the districts of Kerala state. The qualitative methods employed were focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and observations. The checklist of questions presented in the overview guided the discussions

Objectives
1 To assess the impact of the Kudumbashree activities and other grassroots institutions (such as farmers’ groups) on men and women.
2. To determine whether there is any significant change with regard to more equitable
gender relations after Kudumbashree operation in the state

Theoretical Reviews:

Evolution of Kudumbasree in Kerala
The success of SEWA of Ahmadabad, Myrada of Mysore, and several other experiments in different other parts of the country, has attracted many States for replicating this strategy. It has been widely accepted that the programme, if taken up and implemented in the right sense, would be very effective in poverty eradication and women empowerment. SHGs in Kerala have made significant strides in this field. Earlier efforts made by some NGOs were confined mostly to a few areas or remained rather scattered, making the concept relatively unknown and non-replicable. Historically, many church-based development institutions in Kerala have been promoting credit unions. A credit union is a typical system, which, organises the poor into large groups of 150 to 200 members and pools their meagre savings for their common benefit. Here also the basic objective has been to help the poor meet emergent needs and come out of the clutches of moneylenders. These credit unions lacked the participatory decision-making found in SHGs. During the late 1980s this drawback was realised and under the guidance of NABARD many voluntary agencies reorganised their Credit Unions into smaller and more effective SHGs. NGOs have been identified as the best promotional agency because of their long experience in working with local people. The success stories in Neyyattinkara, Wayanad, etc., reveal their contribution towards nurturing and making women groups self-reliant. NGOs under the guidance of NABARD have promoted groups, some of which have reached a self-reliant stage. It needs to be highlighted that these groups still remain apolitical, effectively responding to the needs of the community without actually becoming bureaucratic.
Community Development Society (CDS): A new strategy
The CDS strategy – a modified version of SHG was introduced in 1993 as part of
implementation of the Centrally-sponsored Urban Basic Services for Poor (UBSP) and
UNICEF-assisted Community-Based Nutrition Programme (CBNP). Women from poor
families identified through a transparent process using the nine point non-economic criteria, were organised into Neighbourhood Groups (NHG) of 15-40 families. The NHGs organised at the grassroots-level are federated democratically into Area Development Society (ADS) at ward/panchayat level and these are further federated into CDS, which would be a registered body at the municipality/district level. The entire three-tier structure is envisaged as an extension of the Panchayati Raj system providing a support system as well as a delivery mechanism for the unified implementation of all poverty eradication programmes. The approach is relied on fusion of formal and informal sectors for the development of the below-poverty-line families with focus on women and children. Departing from the traditional approach of heavily subsidised support, it aims at self-help. Probably the most important activity that is being implemented through the CDS system is the formation of Thrift and Credit Societies (TCS). The success of Alappuzha CDS and its smooth replication in Malappuram inspired the State Government for CDS expansion throughout Kerala. The Urban Poverty Eradication Mission known as Kudumbasree is the outcome of this and it envisages eradication of poverty from the State over a period of 10 years. This is being done by organising poor women into groups and empowering them. The region-wise distribution of urban CDS in the State, the thrift and the thrift amounts collected and the thrift loan disbursement. It is evident that of the three regions, the central region mobilised the maximumthrift amount though the number of NHGs in all the three regions is more or less equal. Also the central region is seen to have made significant progress in the disbursement of thrift loan.
SHG vs NHG
The main difference between SHG and NHG is that SHGs are non-CDS, non governmental, and informal organisational structures promoted by voluntary agencies. CDS is sponsored by the government for the uplift of the poor especially women by bringing together the activities of various development departments. NHG members are from families facing high risks i.e., usually those belonging to below poverty line (BPL), identified on the basis of the nine point non-economic criteria. SHG members need not be from the high-risk families but are basically poor and marginalized who find it to difficult to have access to the formal credit system.
Linkage with banks
The role of NABARD in the growth of SHGs in Kerala is worth mentioning. Besides the
financial support, their guidance in group formation and imparting of training in leadership, maintenance of records, book keeping and accounts, have given a sound footing to many SHGs. Their timely intervention has provided the much-needed stability to the thrift initiative. Formation of SHG and their linkage with banks in the State have taken place on two fronts. (i) Through the CDS, formed with the support of State government, local administration, NABARD, UNICEF, and banks. (ii) Through efforts of voluntary agencies and banks under the leadership of NABARD. Farmers’ clubs promoted (under a programme called ‘Vikas Volunteer Vahini’) by NABARD have promoted SHGs too. NABARD has stipulated certain norms for linking SHGs to bank credit such as the following:
(i) The group should have been in existence for at least six months; and
(ii) The group should have scored 120/150 marks based on its evaluation criteria.

Once the groups are linked to the scheme, in the first stage they become eligible for credit
equal to their thrift. Subsequently repeat loans may be availed at the thrift-credit ratio of 1:2 and 1:4 depending on the repayment performance of the groups concerned. These provisions are seen to motivate members to exert peer pressure for prompt repayment.
Kerala remains the third largest in the country next only to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, in the matter of the number of linked groups and accounted for 13 percent of the total linked groups in India in 1999. The linkage programme involved 47 agencies promoting self-help (Kerala State Focus Paper, NABARD 1999-2000) of which 41 were NGOs and 6, Vikas Volunteer Vahini. Though Malappuram was having almost the same number of linked SHGs (940) as that of Alappuzha, the amount of bank loan availed by the former was much lower. The bank loan per SHG was the lowest in Malappuram district (Rs 7966 lakh), and the highest in Pathanamthitta district (Rs 38653 lakh).
The convergence of services and resources of various departments and the availability of
micro-credit from Rashtriya Mahila Khosh (RMK) which is a comparatively cheap and
operationally flexible source have opened better and larger number of avenues for microcredit and financial assistance. It may be inferred that in Malappuram considering the presence of a large number of active SHGs and the drive created by the strategy, there is immense scope for further micro-enterprise creation.

. Micro-financing: Shift from the traditional banking system
Micro-financing has turned out to be an effective strategy for formal financing agencies.
Group lending minimises transaction cost and at the same time the members of a group can avail small loans through that group. The chances of misutilisation are minimal and there is assured repayment because of peer monitoring by the group. The group concept has enabled the rural poor to develop the savings habit and minimise extravagance.
For the Kudumbashree members, the system has been found beneficial because of minimal procedural formalities, access to institutional credit without collateral offering, full autonomy in the selection of activity, and the availability of thrift for meeting urgent needs. The skill needed for filling the application forms and the absence of procedural formalities have made the programme customer-friendly. Besides, the flexible repayment schedule enables them to repay as and when it is convenient. The group will see to it that prompt repayment is made, as they are likely to get repeat loans. The micro-sized, supplementary income-generating activities pursued by the members defy the conventional standards of unit cost and unit size prescribed by banks and government departments. The smaller unit size allows women to pursue the activities in their spare time and contribute to the family’s income.

.

Kudumbashree-Mode Of Operation
The Community Based Organisation are the lifeblood of Kudumbashree. The grass root level poor women are organizes through Neighbourhood Groups(NHGs)consisting of president, secretary, infrastructure volunteer, community health volunteer and income generation volunteer with 20-40 women .The Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) are coordinated at ward level through Area Development Society( ADS) by federating 8 to 10 NHGs. To coordinate the activities at the Panchayat level there is the apex body called Community Development Society(CDS), which is heading the Area Development Societies.(ADSs). The NHG members used to meet once in a week in one of the member’s house. The members , who meet together , discuss their problems and make joint effort to find solutions to their grievances with the support of the functional volunteers. This would bring up an interpersonal feelings among the members and would generate supportive attitude to build confidence among them. Apart from this , they practice small savings through thrift which should be used to create productive assets . The ‘micro-plans’ are prepared at the NHG meetings and the formulated plans would be sent to ADS for scrutiny and finalization to form the ‘miniplan’. After consolidating the ‘mini-plans’ by judicious prioritization at the CDS meeting a ‘sub-plan ‘is formed to become the anti-poverty programme of the Local Self Government. The formulation of micro, mini and sub-plans help facilitate the poor women house holds to participate in planning process as a major stake holder. The local self governing body monitors the implementation of the ‘plans’ and thereby proper linkage , coupled with automony is ensured in the participatory system of planning for poverty alleviation. The first spark of a women based participatory approach for poverty eradication came out in Alappuzha Municipality in Alappuzha District in Kerala in 1993 when the Community Development Society of the poor women came into being as part of the implementation of the Community Based Nutrition Programme (CBNP) and the Urban Basic Service Programme (UBSP) with the assistance of UNICEF
(i). Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs)
Neighbourhood group is the association of 20 to 40 women members , belonging to high
risk families. The elect a a women from among themselves as Resident Community
Volunteer, another on is selected as President of the NHG and the three others are
selected as Community Volunteers , each of whom has specific responsibilities viz.,
Health, Infrastructure and income Generation. They are , therefore , designated as
Community Health Volunteer, Community Infrastructure Volunteer and Community Income Generating Volunteer. The Community Health Volunteer is responsible for all the health related activities of the NHG like immunization, maternal care, child care, nutrition and propogation of ideas like cleanliness , hygiene, etc. The Community Infrastructure Volunteer is in charge of the basic infrastructure needs of the NHG such as housing, sanitation, drinking water, drainage, etc. The Community Income Generation Activity Volunteer looks after the income generating activities of the NHG. She has to identify all potential agencies , departments and organizations to be engaged in promotion of self employment activities . She also liaises with the National Bank for agriculture and Rural Development and commercial banks on behalf of the NHG.
Proper training and orientation are given to the above volunteers in their respective areas.
Each NHG prepares an action plan on the basis of the needs of the member households of
the NHG and such plans are called Micro Plan of the NHG.
(ii). Area Development Societies (ADSs)
Area Development Societies at the ward level are formed of 10 -15 NHGs and the five
member committee of the all the NHGs constitutes the governing body of the ADS. The
ADS has a Chairperson , a Vice chairperson and 7 other members. The Community
Organisor of the Municipality acts as the Member Secretary of the ADS. The ADS integrates the micro plans of the NHGs and after discussion and scrutiny a consolidated action plan is prepared and is known as Mini Plan.
(iii).Community Development Society (CDS)
Community Development Society is the apex body at the town level and is the cocoordinating agency for programme implementation. Chairpersons, Vice chairpersond
and Members of all the ADSs form the General body of the Community Development
Society. A Project officer of the Municipality acts as the member Secretary of the Community Development Society. The Community Development Society has a
President, Vice President and seven other members elected from the General body of the
CDS to form the committee of the CDS. The Committee and the Member Secretary
constitutes the Govrning Body of the CDS.The Community Development Society monitors the programmes undertaken by the ADSs on monthly basis and takes steps to improve the implementation of theprogrammes. Various developmental programmes initiated under Community Development Society and the Area Development Societies include training programme for women to start income generating units , water supply, conduct of health education camps , construction of dual pit latrines undertaking micro enterprises, raising of pathways and, cultural programmes, etc. The Paricipatory modelling under Community Development System brought the poor women in Alappuzha to the mainstream of the social life . They began to participate in
the development process with greater enthusiasm. The NHGs were encouraged to meet as
many time as possible. It provided them an opportunity to sit together and discuss their
common problems to find out solutions. The poor wome n belonging to the high risk
families become empowered and seldom accept poverty as their destiny. They proved
beyond any doubt that they could identify their own problems. They learned the
meanings of ‘ self-help’ and ‘self respect’. The united and empowered women fought
against poverty quite valiantly and effectively Poverty alleviation programmes began to
deliver the goods through participation for the first time in history ..
* Micro Enterprises
Micro Enterprises foster the economic status of women as an effective means to eradicate
poverty. The income generating activities under individual and group initiatives to meet
the livelihoods of the poor women are massively promoted . Canteens/ Catering units, IT
units , Group farming units, Fruit Processing units, Foot ware units, Condiments units,
Umbrella units, Building materials units ,Horticulture units, Electronics units ,Ready
made garments units, Soap powder units, Toys units , Grocery shops, are some of the
examples of Micro Enterprises that are undertaken by poor women under Kudumbashree.
Mission. Women entrepreneurs are given training in entrepreneurship development, skill
development, project management, performance improvement by the Entrepreneurship
Development Institute of India, Ahemmedabad
* Micro Housing/ Bhavanashree
Under this programme poor families ,who are in dire need of constructing new houses are
able to avail loans from banks and the repayment of which is ensured by tri-party
agreement between the beneficiaries, the Community Development Societies and the
Financial institutions/Banks.
* The Destitute Identification , Rehabilitation and Monitoring Programme /Ashraya
This programme , named as “Ashraya” in local language ( meaning ‘depending’) aims at
uplifting the poorest of the poor from their destitution. Poorest of the poor families
,which lack adequate food, drinking water, shelter , educational facilities for children ,
sanitation facilities, employment opportunities, land for shelter , and worst sufferers of
illness and chronic diseases are identified and rehabilitated under various schemes . The
programme launched in 391 Village Panchayats and 6 Municipalities.
* Lease Land Farming/Haritashree
Lease Land Farming Programme , named ‘ Harithashree’ in local language, lend helping
hands to those cultivators who are having no land at all . So Kudumbashree pools
uncultivated lands on rent and provide the willing cultivators for agricultural operations.
.* The S3 Programme
Kudumbashree addresses the multifaceted deprivations of the poor families , which lack
food, health care, education, basic amenities such as shelter, drinking water, safe latrines
and employment. It is felt that poverty reduction would foster economic development if it
sustains the secured gains. So, sustainability economic development assumes greater
importance in the process of attacking poverty. So much so, Kudumbashree has evolved a
project to build a model in select panchayats on the concept of comprehensive
development . The projects focuses on self sufficiency, self reliance and sustainability
(S3) of the village panchayats. The project envisages to address the problems of Child
Development, Geriatric care, Mentally and Physically Challenged, Education,
Adolescent care, women Empowerment, Enterprise development, Unemployment of the
educated youth, Agriculture/Animal husbandry/ Dairy development, Revamping the
traditional sectors Basic minimum Needs and Destitute Identification and Rehabilitation.
.*. Childrens’ Neighbourhoods /Balasabha
The children from poor families are organized to develop their intellectual faculties
by performing cultural activities from time to time. Termed as Balasabhas in local
language it functions as a platform of the children to help develop their overall
capabilities that combines education, entertainment and empowerment.
* . Solid Waste Management./Clean Kerala Business
Solid waste is serious menace for all the urban and semi urban areas of Kerala Now
Kudumbashree mission tries to tackle this problem by setting up ‘Clean Kerala Business’
units in an organized and planned manner entrusting to women entrepreneur groups to
segregate, collect and transport solid waste from the households, commercial establishments , hotels , etc..
* Special Employment Programme for Educated Youth
A special employment programme for the educated youth has been initiated and 50,000
educated youth were assigned with the task of Kudumbashree such as identification
process, setting up of innovative micro enterprises , etc..
* Special School for the disabled children /Buds
Special Schools, called ‘Buds’, are set up aiming at providing for the developmental,
social , and emotional needs of the disabled children. These children are being provided
with the necessary medical attention, physical and mental therapy, mobility equipments,
hearing aids, and vocational and educational training.
* Self Employment Programmes under SJSRY
Swarna Jayanthi Sahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) is an anti poverty programme launched
by the Government of India ad is meant for the urban areas of the state . It covers the 53
Municipalities and 5 Corporations. Individual enterprises and Group enterprises with a
minimum number of 10 persons can be set up.
* GRQ ( Goat-Rabbit-Quail) Project
The Goat-Rabbit-Quail Project is a unique micro enterprises project for rearing the three
species together to earn a steady income to the family entrepreneurs. The predominantly
non-vegetarian population of Kerala necessarily ensures the potential market for the
produce.
The GRQ project aims at utilizing the inherent advantage of the homesteadfarming
practiced by number of families. Quail rearing as an activity can ensure a weekly cash
flow and that combined with the quarterly and half yearly cash flow of rabbit and goat
would ensure a source of steady income to the family.
Gender Relation:
Gender relations are defined as power or status relations between men and women, with the assumption that men and women wield unequal power/status within the family, the community and the larger society. Gender relations cannot be directly observed in society, and so were inferred from the underlying gender roles. Eleven indicators grouped under Personal Empowerment, Role Changes, Attitudes and Others – were identified to measure the direction and extent of perceived change The nature of gender relations—relations of power between women and men—is not easy to grasp in its full complexity. But these relations impinge on economic outcomes in multiple ways.1 The complexity arises not least from the fact that gender relations (like all social relations) embody both the material and the ideological. They are revealed not only in the division of labor and resources between women and men, but also in ideas and representations—the ascribing to women and men of different abilities, attitudes, desires, personality traits, behavior patterns, and so on. Gender relations are both constituted by and help constitute these practices and ideologies, in interaction with other structures of social hierarchy such as class, caste, and race. Neither uniform across societies nor historically static (as numerous studies of different cultures, regions, and communities bear out), they may be seen as largely socially constructed (rather than biologically determined).2 The process of this social construction, however, is inadequately understood, as is also how particular forms of gender inequalities are maintained, and by what means they might change over time. Recent growing interest among economists in intra household dynamics addresses
these questions. For instance, there has been an increasing criticism of "unitary” household models that assume that household members seek to maximize utility on the
basis of a set of common preferences represented by an aggregate utility function, and a
common budget constraint. A range of alternative household models use the game theoretic approach to incorporate a more complex understanding of how family decision making occurs, variously allowing for individual differences in preferences, in budget constraints, and in control over resource use. Although most do not explicitly address gender asymmetries, they can accommodate such asymmetries, and thus provide
a useful approach for analyzing gender relations and point economic thinking in a new
direction. At the same time, these formulations, consisting mostly of formal models, are
restricted in their ability to incorporate the full complexity of gender interactions within
households, and the simultaneity of various processes and forms of decision making. In
addition, most say little about gender relations beyond the household. It could thus be suggested that a rural person's bargaining strength within the family vis-à-vis subsistence needs would depend (given the exchange entitlement mapping) especially on eight factors , like ownership of and control over assets, access to employment and other income-earning means; access to communal resources such as those of village commons and forests,access to traditional social support systems such as of patronage, kinship,
caste groupings, etc,support from NGOs;. support from the State , social perceptions about needs, contributions, and other determinants of deservedness; and
social norms.

This tool was used to collect views about perceived gains and losses regarding the following ten issues.
a. Knowledge and Awareness
There was unanimity on the tremendous increase in knowledge and awareness among
women as a result of involvement in the SHGs. It was agreed that men too had gained in
both, but there was variation in views about its extent. Women’s new knowledge could be classified into two types. The first was concrete knowledge about specific topics. These, like technical skills, were mostly related to income generating activities and enterprises, and varied from location to location, depending on,the type of enterprise being taken up in each location. The second kind of knowledge, which could be termed as awareness, related to knowledge of a broader and more general kind: banks and banking transactions, government schemes and entitlements and insurance. These were common to all centres and locations. Only women belonging to the better-off self-employed group awareness about issues such as nutrition, dangers of pesticide use, organic farming, women’s rights, anti-liquor campaign and police harassment. This group seemed to be more directly politicised and more concerned with wider social issues than the others. It seems that there have been few or no changes in men’s knowledge
b. Skills
Skills are mainly grouped into two categories – personal and technical. All the women
talked about the personal skills they had acquired, the ability to speak up and speak out,
to articulate, to voice their problems and difficulties, to negotiate and bargain, to meet
officials and put issues to them and so on. In short, they mentioned the immense growth
in both self-confidence and the skills on which that confidence was based. This was
amply corroborated by their own menfolk, as well as by everyday experience, and many
commentators state this to be the most evident and long-lasting achievement of Kudumbashree. The men did not make any comment about acquisition of such skills among themselves, presumably because they already possess them in some measure. Other skills mentioned by women were aspects of money management such as lending, accounting, saving, mortgaging and banking. A variety of technical skills were mentioned related to the kind of enterprise taken up by the women’s groups. These included seed production, mushroom cultivation, food processing, cultivation of herbal plants, preparation of herbal medicines, bamboo craft, book-binding, flower cultivation, pisciculture, making ornamental flowers and growing ornamental fish and some others .Men said that they too had learnt them by observing their wives and through interaction with them, but none of the men were directly involved in the production activity of any of these. On the other hand, men of the farming community stated that this level of skills was inadequate for them to take up production seriously and that they needed more skills and would like to acquire them. The men belonging to the big farmers’ group spoke of skills of networking, coordination and sourcing knowledge, in addition to the various agricultural technologies they had learnt. The wives of this group also claimed that they had acquired some of these skills successfully, and many men also agreed that the women had picked up these skills from them through observation.
c. Work burden/leisure
The group of self-employed women reported that they had now earned enough, through their Kudumbashree activities, to buy several household gadgets like a stove, mixie
and cooker, which considerably reduced the time and labour of household work, and
that they now enjoyed a better standard of living. Most of the men reported no change in work or less work, again except in four cases. The spouses of the employed women Kudumbashree members said that now they occasionally did household chores when their wives were away on training related to the Kudumbashree. No change in working hours was reported by the wives of this last group. The increased workload reported by the vast majority of women was of two types. The first was the time spent in the group management activity itself, and included activities such as attending meetings, keeping accounts and minutes, arranging loans and repayments, visits to the bank and other offices and conflict resolution. The animators had the heaviest workload. The second type of workload was related to the income generating activity (or consumption activity like house-building) created by the loan, which was, most commonly, livestock rearing, followed by other small enterprises such as vermicomposting, seed growing, bio pesticide and bio-fertiliser production. The most common activity taken up as a result of the Kudumbashree seemed to be cattle rearing among both labouring and farming women. (Rearing of small livestock like goats, pigs, ducks, rabbits and poultry was not mentioned.) Significantly, care of cattle was seen practically as an extension of women’s domestic rather than productive role. Men farmers “helped out” when needed, for example, taking milk to the society, cleaning cattle sheds, bringing fodder etc., but on those terms; a similar choice of words is used for household chores, indicating that both are seen as part of a woman’s reproductive role. On the other hand, men labour participated not only in work related to cattle, but also brought fuel wood and took care of children. The small increase in men’s work was directly related to the pressure on women’s time.
.
d. Responsibilities (within/outside home)
There was agreement among all, both women and men, that women’s responsibilities
had increased, especially outside the home, while they remained the same within the
home. In other words, women’s total responsibilities had increased. As regards men, the
views were either that theirs had remained the same, or had been reduced. Women’s
relative burden was greater. Women’s increased responsibilities related on the one hand to saving, getting loans, repaying credit and financial management in general and, on the other hand, to handling activities earlier performed only by men such as going to PTA meetings, getting certificates, contacting the Village Administrative Officer and other government officials, visiting schools, going to the ration shop and so on. The middle-class self-employed group of women also stated that their social responsibilities, in terms of participating in anti-liquor and other campaigns, had increased. A third area of increased responsibility for the women was managing the Kudumbashree activity such as rearing livestock, in addition to their regular farm and home responsibility. Men agreed that their responsibilities had either remained the same or decreased. As regards financial affairs, all of them agreed that their responsibility for raising financial resources was considerably reduced and that they had been relieved of this burdenAs regards other activities, men in both the groups stated that they preferred to let their wives take over these functions and relieve them of the burden. The reason given was that now the women were more aware, better informed and more capable of undertaking these tasks, while earlier they were too ignorant and unskilled to handle them. The same attitude was expressed in a more muted fashion, and not quite so openly, in the other locations. However, men stated that there was no change in their own social and political responsibilities. As a result of heavy drunkenness among men and disputes and quarrels arising as a result, women in these villages had recently taken over the entire responsibility of taking goods to the local market, in order to keep control over themoney. They agreed that this in turn led to further disputes, but also said the men helped with household chores. Men’s views on this subject were not available.
e. Participation in Public Life
Here too there was widespread agreement among both men and women that women’s
participation in public life had increased dramatically, making them “visible” in the
public sphere, while men’s participation continued as before. Women participated in a
wide range of public activities, many common to all locations, and some specific to each
location. Common to all were attendance at meetings and trainings, involvement in
social campaigns and participation in festivals and social events. Women are now regularly attending Gram Panchayat meetings and learning how to get their entitlements through government schemes. On the other hand, the men say that now they have stopped attending the Gram Panchayat meetings regularly, and go only when there is some important matter to be discussed of certificates and other services. No change was mentioned in men’s role or activities. The farm women have also been active in the milk society, standing for society elections and participating in auctions; they also took part in a successful campaign to ban the arrack shop in their village. They are also active in organising the celebration of events like sports, quiz competitions, national days, camps and collecting relief funds during disasters. These activities have won them respect among the village elders and male Panchayat leaders and they are now regularly consulted on many village activities at the planning stage. It is notable that in all the locations, greater public participation has been reported among higher caste/class as compared to lower caste/class women’s groups.
f. Decision-Making
There was agreement across all the sites that a small but positive change in favour of
women had taken place. All agreed that women now played a bigger role in household
decision-making, but there were differences between men and women on the extent and
nature of that enlarged role, and the reasons for it. Women everywhere felt that they now
had a larger say in decision-making, and in some cases even spoke of joint decision making. However, across sites and in all classes, men were clear that while they now
listened more to the women, consulted them and took their opinion, finally, the decision
was theirs alone. In other words, the same facts, that is, women’s greater voice, were
reported by both men and women, but in a different language, the women couching it in
a more positive and the men in a more negative manner. There was also a fair degree of agreement among both men and women about the matters on which women’s voice would be given greater weight; these related to household affairs, marriage and the education of children. However, it is important to note that these are the very matters about which consultation may have been taking place even before the period of study
consulted or play a big role in decision-making. On all sites, the men uniformly attributed the change to the increased knowledge, awareness and capability of women now as compared to the past. They mentioned that women now were not as ignorant, they had learned a lot and acquired self-confidence, they were aware of the external world beyond the home, and used similar expressions. Women on the whole concurred, but mildly, using expressions like “earlier we did not know anything outside the home” to refer to their earlier state of ignorance of worldly affairs. Where men also not agreed that control over finances had given their wives a greater say in household decision-making.. It is too soon to say whether men perceive a threat in this phenomenon.
g. Opportunities
There was agreement among women that opportunities had on the whole increased.
They were not only very articulate about what they had, but also critical, and pointed out
what more was needed. Men were of the view that opportunities for them were either the
same or in some cases less. The self-employed group pointed out that they now had information and opportunities for self-employment, but the income was very low, and they lacked marketing support., it was pointed out that opportunities could not be fully utilised because they were inadequate or unsupported by the required services and facilities.The opportunity to take loans is restricted to women in the case of poor families. Men pointed out that while employment was falling, they had no opportunities for self-employment! In,no clear perception emerged about opportunities specifically for men, though men spoke about seeking work to meet the pressures of repayment. The conclusion is that opportunities from Kudumbashree are very woman-specific, while men look more to external forces.
h. Assets
There was agreement among all groups that more household assets had been purchased
with the help of the loans obtained by women, but differences came up on their ownership, on decision-making and on the repayment of loans. Both women’s groups agreed that the chief assets were purchase of livestock, improved housing and more household gadgets. Among the middle-class group, the number and nature of household gadgets purchased was much greater and wider, and house improvement included items like construction of private toilets. The question of ownership of assets was not discussed. Men in both groups stated that they helped to repay the loans. However, their
views about ownership of the assets, and their own role in building family assets were
not recorded.
j. Social status and prestige
This question could be and in fact was, interpreted in different ways by the various
groups, so that different responses emerged. Across groups, it was agreed that women’s
social status/prestige had increased, but men were often more vocal about this than
women, speaking of their pride in their wives. Regarding men’s status, most felt it was the same, and few comments were made about it by either men or women. Women unanimously claimed that their visibility and social prestige in the community, and among men, had increased considerably because of their involvement in various social movements and activities as a result of the Kudumbashree.
k. Conflict/violence
In all but one case, the discussions were confined to conflict/violence at the household
level, and there were divided opinions about it. Women’s groups said it was the same or
less and, in one case, slightly more. Men had very little to say on this topic, since probably they are aware that they are perceived as the initiators of conflict, and were hence defensively silent. Both men and women felt that domestic conflict and violence had come down because of the presence of Kudumbashree, in part due to increased awareness of women’s role in home building and asset creation, and also because of the active intervention of the Kudumbashree in cases of family conflict, counseling the partners, especially about alcoholconsumption, and helping them to reach a solution.
CONCLUSION
Kudumbashree became the lifeline to many of the poor women in the state of Kerala. It is a massive anti poverty programme of the Government of Kerala aiming at eradicating poverty and salvage the destitute from the wretches of extreme deprivation. . Resultantly, the poor and tribal women of the state have become active participants in the planning and implementation process of various ant poverty programmes. By participating in various income generating –cum developmental activities , the morale and confidence of women become very high. Capacity of the tribal poor women of the state in several areas has gone up considerably , status of women in families and community has also improved. Kudumbashree has gained national and international acclaim as an ideal and workable model of participatory development for eradicating poverty.. It has proved without any doubt that women empowerment is the best strategy for poverty eradication Women who were regarded as voiceless and powerless started identifying their inner power, their strength, opportunities for growth , and their role in reshaping their own destiny. The process of empowerment becomes the beacon light to their children, their families and to the society at large. It opens a new vistas in development history. A new paradigm of participatory economics has been found emerging in “God’s Own Country”. Kudumbashree presents a unique model of participatory development ,which can very well be emulated by other developing countries.
Gender relations are deeply influenced by other social forces, factors and relationships in society. Kudumbashree are a new social institution, not even conceived of about two decades ago; yet they have spread rapidly, and have obviously come to stay. It seems that the budding Kudumbashree movement has not yet been able to challenge the existing social hierarchies. At the level of personal space both mental and physical, there has been a tremendous expansion for women, through both an enormous and rapid increase of knowledge, awareness and skills in new areas, as well the expansion of institutional space, which has opened up a new and hitherto unknown world to women Women’s larger role in decision-making seems to be resented by men, even though they did not say so directly, but hinted at it indirectly, giving a different reason. Most of the same men were very proud of their wives’ achievements, which resulted from the very same greater capability! These divided opinions about the same phenomenon are significant pointers to unspoken feelings. The same could be seen with regard to control over assets. While all agreed that the finances generated by loans taken by women had been used for asset building, it was not clear whether women even had joint, let alone individual, ownership rights to these assets. Control over assets is a much better indicator of women’s relative status vis-à-vis men than control over income, so this does not augur well for women. In the public arena, participation in public life and social prestige and esteem were seen to be closely linked. The first has made women “visible” on a large scale in the public domain as never before, and they are admired for it, publicly. Yet there is little change in
power relations to be observed here. Most of the participation is in the “safe” area of provision of facilities and services for the village and contributing to “welfare” measures.
Women have worked hard for this, and solid outcomes have resulted, with considerable
expenditure of time and effort, adding to both their responsibilities and workload. But women have not entered into any controversial area, nor threatened the male power structure in any way. They have not taken up any “threatening” issues, such as discrimination against women in the matter of property entitlements, wages, or contracts,
or violence against women. In Kerala, as already mentioned, the situation was quite different, and for external reasons. Other collective institutions such as women’s organisations, labour unions, political parties, people’s movements, or issuebased movements were not mentioned by anyone, either in the context of public participation, or of institutional linkages. Perhaps the question was not directly raised, but the omission is still significant. It seems Kudumbashree have not entered the political space yet, though there are indications of late that political parties are trying to enroll them as vote givers and vote gatherers. An area where unequal gender relations are most clearly visible is in that of conflict leading to violence. The evidence about conflict or violence at the domestic level was mixed, with both positive and

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NIDHEESH K B
LECTURER IN COMMERCE
PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
PONDICHERRY
INDIA


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