Kudumbashree's community organisation follows a three-tier structure of Neighbourhood Groups, Area Development Societies and Community Development Societies

Background

Kudumbashree, Kerala's poverty eradication and women empowerment mission, was inaugurated on 17 May 1998 at Malappuram, in the presence of Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar and Minister for Local Administration Paloli Mohammed Kutty. It was registered in November 1998 under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act, and began full operations on 1 April 1999. The mission grew out of the People's Plan Movement, with a three-member task force of S. M. Vijayanand, T. M. Thomas Isaac and Dr Prakash Bakshi recommending a state-level mission for poverty eradication. Its community organisation follows a three-tier structure: Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) of 15-20 households, Area Development Societies (ADS) at the ward level, and Community Development Societies (CDS) at the local government level. Kudumbashree functions as a community network working in tandem with Kerala's local self-government institutions, and achieved statewide coverage by 2003 after phased expansion.