Focus on enterprises that can generate employment, Kudumbashree women told

Minister for Local Self-government M.B. Rajesh has urged Kudumbashree women to focus on business enterprises that could generate more employment and income.

He was speaking at a face-to-face programme organised by the Kerala Women’s Commission to discuss new opportunities for Kudumbashree women and its auxiliary group members here on Tuesday.

The Minister pointed out that over the decades there had been changes in Kerala society, lives of women, and women’s status owing to Kudumbashree’s interventions. In step with the changing times, Kudumbashree women’s focus also had to shift from livelihood generation to business enterprises that could provide more employment and income.

The Minister also stressed the need to increase women’s participation in the labour force from the current 20% to 50%. Instead of doing household work that was invisible, they should engage in work where they could get paid, he said.

Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi, in her remarks, observed that since the commission was formed almost three decades ago, it had been hearing women’s complaints and trying to provide them protection. In the meantime, there had been a huge change in women’s social and financial status. The face-to-face programme was organised as a step forward in this journey of women’s progress. It was the outcome of discussions on ways to give a further boost to women’s empowerment and equip them to face challenges. The idea was to remove hurdles in the way of women entering various labour sectors and tap into their strengths for the development of the State, she said.

Kudumbashree chief operating officer Naveen C. introduced the Kudumbashree women and the auxiliary group members (who are between the ages of 18 and 40) to sectors in which they could make their presence felt.

These included K4Care, Home Shop, Premium Cafe, community-based tourism, school cafes, and deep cleaning. Auxiliary groups could consider starting tuition centres, dance schools, hardware repair, fitness centres, automobile workshops, and multitask teams, Mr. Naveen said.

Later, Kudumbashree women entrepreneurs interacted with Mr. Naveen on issues they faced such as finding loans, lack of marketing, finalising project proposals, training opportunities, and improving brand visibility.