7 states to ally with Kerala's anti-poverty venture

Seven states have shown a keen interest in partnering with Kerala’s poverty eradication mission, Kudumbashree.

It has been successfully implemented by the woman-oriented economic empowerment venture in the state.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan are expected to sign MoUs with Kudumbashree in this regard soon.

On Sunday, these states showed interest to collaborate with Kerala at the close of the three-day orientation workshop for Community-based Resources for Enterprise Support and Training (CREST), organised here by the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), a Kudumbashree release said on Monday.

The workshop was designed to orient and inform States on Kudumbashree’s Micro Enterprises Consultant model (MEC) and to discuss plans and modalities for rolling out CREST. Chhattisgarh’s representative said his state would give the final word on replicating the model after due discussions with the government.

The MEC model of Kudumbashree has been recognised at the national level by “Ajeevika,” earlier known as the National Rural Livelihood Mission. The Centre’s Ajeevika programme envisages the creation of one crore entrepreneurs in seven years.