Prosperity of Family

DAY TWO JAN 8 2020

Woke up early today. The excitement is cutting off my sleep now. But today feels different somehow! Could it be that it rained during the night and that the weather is colder? Or is it something else? I was gobbled up in my mind trying to figure out the answers when it struck me. The entire street is filled with silence. Now that is something that you do not see every day! Usually, the sound of cars moving around and the constant honking-culture annoys the alien minds but today was surprisingly super quiet. I decided to get to the bottom of it and found out that the government passed a new piece of legislation concerning various unions present in the country. To protest the government’s decision the entire city was shut down. All the shops were closed. Public transportation was in a complete halt. The state-wide protest acted in our favour. Instead of riding a bus to the venue of our next talk, we walked to it. Although we mistook an old church for our rendezvous point, we did manage to find it, eventually.

We spent the whole day today in the main office of the Kudumbashree, the Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, which was launched on 17th May 1998. Kudumbashree means Prosperity of Family. This Mission aims to eradicate absolute poverty within 10 years under the leadership of Local Self Governments formed and empowered by the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution of India. The grassroots of Kudumbashree are Neighbourhood Groups (NHG in short) that send representatives to the ward level Area Development Societies (ADS). The ADS sends its representatives to the Community Development Society (CDS), which completes the unique three-tier structure of Kudumbashree. Today, there are 277000 NHGs, over 19,854 ADSs and 1073 CDSs in Kudumbashree. What inspired me was the role of women in this movement. Seeing such a huge organization dedicating a major part of its resources towards empowering women in India was a huge eye-opener.

The pencil campaign of the Kudumbashree was another unique way of getting children educated and interested in environmental issues. The Livelihood programs of Kudumbashree include but are not limited to Bud schools. Buds Rehabilitation Center (BRC), collective farming for women, the Goat village…etc. This poverty eradication mission won the national award and is operating in 24 out of 28 states throughout India. The Kudumbashree staff’s commitment and sense of service and care for economic and social development of the society entirely changed my mind about Kerala. I used to think that only people living in the west especially US citizen are more concerned about having a sustainable lifestyle, but now I know better. Thanks for bearing with me as the second day of my journey comes to an end. See you tomorrow.