Women and Child Welfare Minister Veena George has said that the State government is aiming at a comprehensive empowerment of women by making them socially and financially independent and self-sufficient. Opening Escalera, a women entrepreneurs’ and innovators’ expo organised by the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC) in Kozhikode on Monday, the Minister said the expo was the first step in the direction through which a project consultancy was being launched under KSWDC.
The KSWDC has provided loans worth ₹1,152 crore to women entrepreneurs in the State over the past three-and-a-half decades. Besides, it had been able to create over 70,000 job opportunities and provide jobs directly to 35,000 people, the Minister said. Besides entrepreneurial development, the Corporation has set up hostels for women in different parts of the State with crèche facilities for children of working women. The Corporation was planning to set up hostels in more places soon, the Minister added.
In his presidential address, Minister for Forests and Wildlife Protection A.K. Saseendran said that KSWDC was a model to the country like Kudumbashree. Mayor Beena Philip and MLA Thottathil Raveendran were the chief guests on the occasion.
The exhibition that began at the Kozhikode beach on Sunday features around 200 stalls displaying a variety of products of women entrepreneurs from within and outside the State. Kudumbashree, Canara Bank and IDBI bank are supporting the expo. A Kudumbashree food court has also been set up. A variety of entertainment programmes are being held every evening at the expo that concludes on August 26.
