The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Kudumbasree plans schemes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Kudumbasree plans schemes

Special Correspondent

Ninth anniversary celebration of mission from today

Thiruvananthapuram: The ninth anniversary celebrations of the Kudumbasree Mission beginning here on Wednesday will be marked by a slew of schemes aimed at strengthening and developing micro-enterprises and equipping them with marketing facilities for value-added products.

Minister for Local Self-Government Paloli Mohammed Kutty and Principal Secretary S.M. Vijayanand told a press conference here on Tuesday that the anniversary celebrations would witness the launch of programmes for poverty alleviation and women's empowerment.

They said moves were on to set up a finishing school to help jobless youth identify new areas of employment and equip them with new skills. The mission had tied up with the Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy's Foundation to provide training for 5,000 youth in Kerala. The two-year programme would cover 10 districts in the first phase.

The Minister said the finishing school would equip 15,000 youth to find jobs during the Eleventh Plan period. The project, funded by the Union Government, would cost Rs. 2.5 crore.

Kudumbasree was planning to establish a State-wide network of sales outlets for products manufactured by the units set up under the mission. Named Designer Shop, the outlets would have a floor area of at least 200 sq. ft.

The shops would have a common design, interior decoration and storage facilities.

Quality control

Mr. Vijayanand said moves were afoot to standardise the products manufactured by Kudumbasree units and ensure quality control.

The inventory and supply chain would be computerised to streamline the marketing mechanism.

The mission had drawn up an ambitious scheme to set up clusters of micro-enterprises and encourage agriculture during the current year. Rural business hubs would be established to promote agricultural produce and traditional industries.

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