The Kudumbashree is launching exclusive start-ups for women as part of its silver jubilee celebrations in Malappuram district.
The start-ups called She-Starts will give a fillip to the entrepreneurial dreams of young women, said Kudumbashree district mission coordinator Jafar K. Kakkooth.
Women who are not part of the Kudumbashree at present will benefit from She-Starts. Women aged between 18 and 45 can join auxiliary groups, which are formed as part of the silver jubilee celebrations for non-Kudumbashree women.
Mr. Jaffar said that women could begin start-ups either individually or in groups of three to 10 members. The Kudumbashree will provide training, business project assistance, and financial support.
Monitoring committees have been formed under Kudumbashree Community Development Societies (CDSs) in each panchayat. These committees will review the progress of She-Starts every month.
Mr. Jaffar said that any woman wishing to be part of the project could register with the CDS through an auxiliary group and join the general orientation training being offered by the Kudumbashree.
The project is being implemented jointly by the Industries department and the Kudumbashree. Mr. Jaffar said that details about the project would be circulated to the neighbourhood groups and auxiliary groups through cluster-level meetings and ward-level orientation programmes.
He said that the methodology of start-ups, areas with potentials, and loan facilities would be made available for entrepreneurs during the training. In the initial phase, each CDS is expected to launch at least five start-ups.
“Even when giving importance to educated auxiliary group members, priority will be given to projects using Information Technology,” said Mr. Jaffar.
She-Starts are one of the 25 unique programmes aimed at financial empowerment of women launched by the Kudumbashree in its 25th year.
The other schemes launched during the silver jubilee year include creating digital literacy among all neighbourhoods, textile recycling, palliative care training, community counselling, basic life support training, Kudumbasree blood donation forum, airport signature store, job fairs, and Kudumbasree labour bank.
Those schemes are expected to make a substantial difference to thousands of women in the district. Malappuram has the largest number of neighbourhoods as well as CDSs.
The 111 CDSs in the district will work towards reviving the unused office buildings in government hands. Under the project named Punarjani, the Kudumbashree will make use of closed and unused shops and other office premises for different purposes, including marketing outlets, monthly fairs, trust shops, and tribal bridge schools.
