Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Kudumbasree has helped improve women’s lot: study

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More then 90 per cent of women have reported that their self-confidence has grown significantly after they became members of Kudumbasree, according to a study.

The study conducted by a team of experts led by economist M.A. Oommen of the Institute of Social Sciences found that about 75 per cent of the women felt that their social position among peer groups, neighbourhood and the wider community had improved after they became active in Kudumbasree.

“The best part is the remarkable progress in organisational and leadership capabilities of the Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (STs) categories.

The fairly respectable improvement in “bargaining skills” which Nobel laureate Amartya Sen considers an important non-material capability in determining outcomes among socially vulnerable groups is no small achievement,” the study report said.

The study, however, found that the intervention of ‘Kudumbasree’ mission had not led to very high levels of economic empowerment. “Although there is significant growth in the savings, the sacrifice and opportunity cost of it is very high, especially for the very poor among them.

The poor progress reported with regard to economic empowerment reckoned in terms of income, wealth and household assets needs examination. At any rate, that 91 per cent of the STs and 82 per cent of the SCs in the sample and 64 per cent of all backward classes have reported nil progress in asset building, should be a matter of concern,” the report said.

On the knowledge empowerment ushered in through Kudumbasree, the report said while there had been good progress in reading habits, discussion on public issues and the like there was very little progress in regard to training received. Nearly 69 per cent of the degree holders among the Kudumbasree members reported that they had received no training while 89 per cent of the illiterates had also the same complaint.

“Empowerment is the total resultant of various forces, the most prominent being their functional linkage with local bodies rather than access to micro-finance. That 3,200 members contested local body elections in 2005, and 1,408 of them won the elections is something to write home about,” it said.

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