ROLE OF KUDUMBASREE IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN KERALA

Abstract

The empowerment of a person is a state of him in any way he becomes powerful to face all problems belong to him.Women’s Empowerment can be defined as promoting women’s sense of self work, their ability to determine their own choices and their rights to influence social change for themselves and others. Kerala is a land of baffling contradictions. Economic and social anarchy existed among women in Kerala centuries ago. Although Kerala was culturally superior, women were always behind men. None of the services of women were glorified. There was a social system in which all the burdens of society were concentrated only on women and they were marginalised and kept within the household. Women have been dominated by men since ancient times. In many families female life was like slavery and more over in society women were always behind. There was universal freedom for men and social exclusion for women in general. Women empowerment also means uplifting of all women to face all problems around them and make them powerful to live them in a social secure stage. The empowerment of women is an essential factor for the sustainable growth of the society. In Kerala, a southern state of India Kudumbasree, the women's empowerment organization, has given women a social and economic equality. Kudumbasree is a group of women working under the Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission and under the jurisdiction of each local self government institutions. This paper describes how ‘Kudumbasree in its nature and scope and its contributions to women's empowerment in general and describes the attempts of Kudumbasree program in the broader context of measures to empower the women's group, measures of alleviating poverty, improving financial inclusion and mainly how these things empower the women in total and also explain about how Kudumbasree helped the society in total , especially to women, by its actions and activities done through its organisational setup.