Social Organization in Kulala Community of Kerala , Kasargod

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Topic: Social Organization
in Kulala Community of Kerala
, Kasargod
Subject: Anthropology




Introduction
This project aims to study the social organization of Kulala community. Kulala community is a unique community of people who are settled together in order to have a well organized way of living. Kulala community lives like this in order to be powerful and unified and also to prosper their life. Here we try to study how the community is structured and how the community attains the common goal of it.
The community of Kulala does not only have a life of pottery making but also have a well established social system consists of Temple committee, Kudumbashree, KMSS, SHMG, Balasabha, Erikkulam Arts & Sports Club and many more. The community has found to be more social with other communities through these organizations. These organizations and structures also help the community to be a little modern while also holding the traditional values associated with it. Now we can say that the community of Kulalas has become a very significant community compared to other communities because of its powerful social setup.


Temple
In ancient days the temple was controlled by the people of ‘Vadakke Veettukar’. ‘Thazhekattu Manakkar’ transferred the temple to the Kulala community after building it. They have built many temples. Among the 18 and half temples created by ‘Thazhekattu Manakkar’ this one is considered as the half temple. Yet this temple had the prestige of great temples. This temple became a half temple just because it lacked some features of the other great temples. They had always transferred temples to many people and this temple was also one such temple. The temple was given in a way that it is useful to all members of the people. Because the menial duties of the temple were done by Vadakke Veettukar they exercised power over the temple and made the temple theirs. They became the rulers of the temple. It was in Vadakke Veedu they kept the money, ornaments and other properties of the temple were kept. Vadakke Veedu was the right house for the protection and preservation of the temple.
Achanmar
It is the elder persons of the 4 main families will become the Achanmar of the temple. (4 Main families are: Vadakke Veedu, Nalupurapaattil, Kaaliyathu Veedu, Malliyodan). Because of some reasons some elder persons do not become the Achanmar. If a person’s wealth is not good and if a person is an astrologer he will not have permission to become Achan. The person also needed good qualities. If one person becomes an Achan he was to go to Chirakkal or Nileswaram Kovil to perform the ritual called ‘Chirika Kettal’. The persons who have done this ritual are called Kuruppanmar. E.g., Kannan Kurup of Vadakke Veedu. Chirika Kettal is observed as a big event. The Achanmar who performed Chirakakettal would not go to other temples. There would be difference in attire if a person becomes Achan. He would not wear shirt and wore only mundu. Such a person will work only until noon. After noon they would take  bath and will dress well.
Decision Making by Achanmar
In early periods Achanmar took decisions regarding all matters related to their own community. The decision taken by the Achanmar would be agreed by others (All members of the Kulala community). No one had the courage to disobey the orders. If anyone disobeyed the order they would be expelled from the community. After the arrival of Temple committee Achanmar would discuss the matters with the Temple Committee and members of the community. In the end decision would be announced. The meeting is convened in the 15th and 30th months of Malayalam Calendar. If any of the members in the community had a complaint he would submit the letter commonly on these occasions. Then only the community would discuss the matter. If a complaint is in the concern to the whole community the temple committee can investigate and make decision without complaint letters.
Today Achanmar take decisions in Land, Job, wage and community riots, property problems etc. The decisions can be obeyed or not. If a person disagrees the order he is allowed to go to court and police these days. But in the earlier periods it was not possible. If it is community matters the decision is disagreed by anyone they will be expelled from the place. The society will never support such a person and it will be resentful toward him. Because of this many persons have moved from this place.
Reasons for the expulsion of a person were inter-caste and other religion marriage within the community and marriages with higher classes. If a person conducted inter-caste marriage the family members never allowed them to get in home and members of the community did not gave any help. The couples who had inter-caste marriages were forced to go to other places.
Nowadays the family members keep secret relationships with inter-caste married couples. But in the case of society they were not accepted. If they came to temples during the festivals neighbors and relatives would not even talk to them. The inter-caste marriages increase day to day therefore most of the families keep touch with them. According to Thankamani, a lady in the community, “It is the educated girls who mostly go for inter-caste marriages’. Boys in the community were not in going for higher studies. They find jobs in the village and in the Middle East. Educated girls never like to marry such a person who does not have any prestige job. So they opt boys from other castes without considering they belong to a different caste.
Chirikakettal
Only the Achanmar or Sthanikar can do the temple rituals. To become Sthanikar one should go to Chirakkal or Nileswaram kovil and should perform Chirikakettal. In Chirikakettal the person will tie the ‘pachapattu’ over his waist and will put a knife in it. The Pachapattu is gotten from the king. After Chirikakettal they will return to the temple to pray. After praying they will go to ‘Vadekkeveedu’. Now the person who has become the ‘Sthanikan’ will sit over a ‘karuthapattu’ which is drawn over a ‘vellapattu’. If the Sthanikan is married his wife will come and give him bread. After this he will tie a knot once for which makes the ritual of ‘Thalikettu mangalyam’. The food is supplied to all people who are gathered in this occasion. Because the expenditure of this ritual is comparatively high two or more persons would go together to perform this ritual. This ritual is a proof that the Kulala community of Erikkulam were under the power of Nileswaram or Chirakkal Kovilakom.
Funeral Function of Sthanikar or Achanmar
If the Sthanikar or Achan is died his burial is performed with utmost ritual significance. If the an Achan is died in the morning his cremation is to be done before sunset. The body is cremated in the cemetery using 5 types of woods. Brothers and children will burn the body. After 41 days from the funeral function the community will organize a big food for everyone. Expenditure of the this will be divided into two. One half of it is to be taken care by the temple and the other by family.
Series of Achanmar
Vadakke Veedu – Kannan Kurup, Ambunji
Nalupurapattil     - Kunjambu, Appa
Kaliyathuveedu – Ambunji, Vattiyan, Alaami
Malliyodan         - Kottan



Anthithiriyan
The temple lamp is lit by Anthithiriyan. They belong to members of mainly 3 Tharavads which are Vadakkeveedu, Atherin Keezhil, Kambikkaanam. In a year one person from one tharavadu will light the lamp. The others succeeded in the following years. Expenses for this purpose is given by Devaswom. Anthithiriyans would light the lamp only in the evenings. During festival days they will be in temple to light the lamp in the morning also. They have no right to enter into the Srikovil. They could light the lamp only outside of the temple. The inner lamps would be lit by Namboothiris whenever they come. If an Anthithiriyan has pula or valaayma members of other tharavads will light the lamp. Mostly senior members of the family would become Anthithiriyans.
Current Anthithiriyans
Vadakkeveettil Chanthoonji
Atherinkeezhil Krishnan
Kambikaanam Krishnan
Kshethram Thanthirs
Kshethram Thanthris are from the Madikkai Alambadi Illam who are Brahmins. They get their right from generations. Kshethram Thanthris are not appointed by Achanmar or temple committee. A thanthri will have the power to decide which poojas are to be performed. Appointment of Namboothiris and renovation of the temple are only to be done with the consent from the thanthri. The Kshethram Thanthri would come only if there is some special occasion like festivals. He will be gotten dakshina. Dakshina will be a big amount. They also got wages apart from dakshina. The present thanthri is Sripadmanabhan. This shows the connection of Kulala community with Brahmins. 
Kshethram Melshanthi
Kshethram Melshantis would be Brahmins. They are appointed by Thanthiri. Melshanthi has less power in the temple. He would come on special days and festivals like Sankramam, Aayilyam and Pooram etc. Members of the Kulala gave all support and help to the Melshanthi. Materials and wages are given by the temple committee. He also get dakshinas  from people. Kulalas are not permitted to touch Brahmins.
This shows the connection of Kulala community with Brahmins and the influence of them upon the community.
Kshethram Velichappadan
Kshethram Velichappadans are not selected by the community, temple committee or thanthri. Velichappadans are the delegates of Gods. The community member who feels the God’s presence within will become Velichappadan. Velichappadans will always be with God during the time of festivals. The present Velichappadans are A.K Kannan and Akkara K.V Karunakaran.
Kalurikkar
Money to meet the expenditure of the temple is collected by Kalurikkar. Kal and Ara are different values in the old Malayalam currency. Kalurikkar got their name from the combination of these two words. They wanted to give exact accounts. In the early periods Kalurikkar collected rice as the fund to the temple. The rice thus collected will be given to the community members during the time of monsoon. During these days the community members would be suffering from poverty. Whenever their state is well they had to give back the rice with an extra amount. It is from this transaction that the temple met most of its expenditure. The pathyams in Temples proves these statements. Because there are variety of rice available they have to collect money instead of rice now. K. Ajayan and T.V Ravi are the present Kalurikkar.
‘Pattalies’
No one knows when the Pattaly system began. But the system ended in 1990’s. The ‘Pattalies’ were selected by the community members. The taxes of temple land including that from agricultural area, fields etc were collected by ‘Pattalies’. The taxes thus collected by ‘Pattalies’ were then given to Pattalers (Village officers). If the tax is 10 rupees the Kudiyan had to give an additional amount of 2 rupees. This extra 2 rupees is used to for the expenditure of the activities of temple. This money is used for the conducting ‘Kudiyattom’ and ‘Pooram’. 2 rupees is the ratio for a tax of 10 rupees. This extra money for the temple is known as ‘Purappadu’. The Pattelers were appointed by the government. Pattelers gave tax regarding notices to ‘Uthirani’. Uthiranis were assistants to the village officers who gave such notices to ‘‘Pattalies’’ and people. Land measurements are to be done by surveyors who are called as ‘Chenappan’. As a result of Land Reformation act the ‘Kudiyan’ got the land he lived. The ‘Kudiyan’  who settled in the temple land argued for the land. The Land Reformation ordered that whoever paid the taxes will have the right to hold the land. The ‘Pattalies’ knew all the boundaries of the land. When the Land Reformation Act, 1973 was passed the ‘Pattalies’ helped the village officers whenever there is an issue arrived. As a result the ‘Kudiyan’ got the land. Because of this Devasom lost a huge portion of land. The temple land was also given for agricultural activities. The ‘Maniyanis’ got the land for farming from the Temple. But when the time of Land Reformation Act was passed they made the land theirs. The land thus got was sold by them and was bought by the Temple Committee by giving a huge amount of money.
The Pattali system existed even after the entry of the Temple Committee. The Pattali system came to an end when the lands which were in the hands of the Temple were gone. In the last stages of Pattali system the ‘Pattalies’ cooperated with the Temple Committee. The last ‘Pattalies’ were Vattiyan and Dharmman.
Temple Committee
The first committee members selected from the Vettakkorumakan Kottam Devaswom through a democratic way. First member was selected from Vadakke Veedu under the presidentship  of Vadakkeveettil Kunjambu. Following are the first committee members who were selected for the unity and prosperity of the Temple.

In 1971
1.      K  V Raman (President)      - Karuvappalli
2.      V Krishnan   (Secretary)     - VErikkulam
3.      T Amboonji                          - Kaaliyath
4.      K V Karathambu                 - Kaalathattil
5.      P P Amboonji                      - Puthiyapurayil
6.      M V Ambu                          - Karuvappalli
7.      K Krishnan                          - Vododukkath
8.      K V Chindan                       - Karuvappalli
9.      N P Appa                            - Naaluvaraplaattil

Temple Committee 2013-14

         1.V. K Balakrishnan (Secretary)            – Kanjangadan
          2.Cheriyambu  (President)                   – Vadakkeveedu
          3.T V Narayanan (Treasurer)               –Thazhathuveedu
          4.Gangadharan                                       - Puthiyapurayil
         5.N P Kunjikrishnan                                 - Naalupurappaattil
         6.Surendran (Joint Secretary)               – Malliyodan
         7.Ganeshan                                              - Puthiyapurayil
         8. Sudhi                                                     - Naalupurappaattil


Monthly Committee
Temple committee is usually convened during Malayalam Months 15 and 30. The committee can also be convened in other times as well. But these months are selected as there is no ceramic pot making during these months. Matters related to the temple are discussed during these meetings and are also recorded in minutes. Temple renovation, daily working of the temple and festivals are the matters discussed. The committee is convened in the mornings in the Temple Committee Office. If there are any sect- matters that are to be discussed, those matters are discussed by Achanmar and members of the sect and they arrive in solutions through consensus.
Selection of Temple Committee – General Body
Temple committee’s term is one year. In Malayalam month Makaram 28 to next 7 days no one indulges in clay pot making. The temple committee general body is convened during these days.  In general body, secretary delivers the welcome speech. President will deliver the presidential address. The specialty of this committee is the committee will not present its working report of the previous year. But account details will be presented by a person outside the existing committee and the doubts will be cleared by the secretary. Achanmar will appoint five persons (who knows maths very well) for auditing these accounts. After that other matters (Temple renovation, daily working of the temple and festivals relating to community, pottery making  etc) are discussed. For the selection of the new committee papers will be given to the members of general body. A panel will be accepted only with the sings of 25 members. There may be 6-7  panels. And in each panel there will be 9 persons’ names. These names come forward with a discussion among the members who sign in the panel. The names will be given in the panel without the permission of the concerned persons. The panels will be given to Achanmar and the old secretary. The names came to every panel will be taken to the new committee. After it the persons who have a majority in most panels will be taken. And the “Illam” will also be taken into consideration. Because if all the persons were selected from a single Illam, “Pula and Valaayma” can disrupt the working of the temple. Members will be mainly taken from the “VelliIllam”, ‘Karuvaappalliillam”, “Kaalathillam” and “Malliyodanillam”. Because 4 major Tharavads belong to these Illams.
VelliIllam (Kolapuravan) – Vadakke veedu and its roots.
Karuvappalli – Naalupurappattil tharavadu and its roots.
Kaalathillam – Thazhathuveedu tharavadu and its roots.
Malliyodan - Malliyodan and its roots.

Kalari
The Kulala community members practiced Kalari. The Kalari was performed near to the field. They have a special building exclusively for the Kalari training purposes. The Maniyanis taught Kalari to the Kulalas. The Maniyani’s came from Kinanoor, a place in Karinthalam Panchayat. There is a story behind the end of Kalari. In 1930’s Police came to Madikkai to resist the political movement. Kulala’s were afraid of this and they stopped Kalari practice forever.
The committee members of Kalari and Temple are same. Temple committee discusses and take decisions regarding the fee structure of Kalari. Rituals were practiced in and around Kalari field. Ambala Nayattu is an example for such a ritual and it is practiced around 3 AM. The temple committee and other members of the Samudaya came to Kalari parambu. The senior member will hoot and others will give chorus to it. After that they move to a nearby forest and will hunt animals. Nowadays they only get squirrels and birds only. According to the view of Kannanachan they caught animals like pig, rabbits etc in the early periods. Now because of forest laws and fewer numbers of animals they cannot hunt like in the past. In the early period they kept licensed rifles.  But when a cow got killed by the fire from a licensed rifle owner the district collector ordered not to use rifles thenceforth. Thus we can say Kulala community had a great background of hunting-life in their past.
During early period Kolkkali is practiced in Dhanu or Makarm months of Malayalam. It is taught by Maniyanis. The specialty of this month is that during these months the climate will good and moon will be so pleasant. 15th and 30th of Malayalam every months and also 27th and 28th of Makaram month the Samudaya meeting is conducted at Kalari Parambu. The secret meetings are also held at Kalari Paramb. The matters that cannot be discussed in the temple like corruption, sex allegations are discussed here. Nowadays the Kalari parambu is also treated as problem solving place.

Power Position of Tharavadukal in the Decreasing Order
Vadakke Veedu
Nalupurapattil   
Kaliyathuveedu
Malliyodan       


Illams
     The areas of settlement of Kusavas are called as Illams. Seven Illams of Irikkulam have been identified. They are:
1. Vallillam
2. Karuvapulli
3. Malliyodan
4. Kalathuveedu
5. Puthiyaparamban
6. Kanhangadan
7. Aniyanthatta


Vellillam
     Vellillam had large no of members. So naturally the name of the illam is derived from that aspect meaning big illam. Among the illams Vadakkeveedu enjoys greater power. Religious and ritual authority of the community comes under the purview of this illam. Following are the 12 Tharavads in Vellillam.

1. Vadakkeveedu (2)
2. Atheerankeezhil (1)
3. Chembakathinkeezhil (3)
4. Thayathuveedu (pilikkode)
5. Kambikkanam (2)
6. Kalathuveedu (1)
7. Pododukkath (1)
8. Kanjadan (1)

Landlord system – Echikkanam
In early period Echikkanam was controlled by Echikkanam Nairs. They were the landlords. The landlord system existed here during the same time landlord systems existed in other parts of Kerala. The system was ended with the introduction of Land Reformation act of Kerala Government in 1958.
At the first time of landlord system Brahmins were the landlords and Nairs were the subordinates. Nairs collected taxes from the people. And they gave part of that to Brahmins. Nairs kept balance of tax collected from this. They even captured fields. Working class was exploited by Nairs and they had no way to react. If anyone moved against them they were punished severely by lashing, fine and furthermore they also tried to segregate them from the community. And if the working class failed to pay the taxes the Janmi came and hoisted ‘thol’. If this happened no one had right to enter the house without the permission of the Janmi. If this is not followed he got punishment. When it is seen he has to go to the Janmi’s house and has to request permission to work in his fields and to enter his house. Janmi’s decision would usually be without mercy. Sometimes the Janmi would order to clear the place or field without taking these materials. Whatever the decision the common man had to accept it because there is no appealing authority.
Janmi would call common man to work in his field and illam without giving sufficient wage. Sometimes they were given food. When a Kusava ate food in Janmi’s illam he has to clean that place with cow dung. When a complaint came arguers were summoned to Janmi’s house. Sometimes one of them would be punished and sometimes both; whatever the Janmi likes. It need not be a righteous decision. But usually both of the arguers would not complaint each other the moment they are in front of the Janmi. Because of the fear from harsh punishment the disputers would solve the problem without the intervention of Janmi.

Relationship of Kulala Community with other Communities
Kulala community had relationships between other communities. Earthenware was an inevitable thing for some rituals. Most of the communities have their own temples. The temples needed pottery products. Earthenware pots were necessary for Kalasam. Pots are also useful in household works, funeral, rituals at temples, pongala etc.
New pots are used in newly built houses. New grains are collected to be used in the occasion of Vishu according to Hindu customs. People mainly depend Kusava community for pottery products. This helps them to build good relationship with other communities. When selling pottery products in the early times, there was no bargaining between the Brahmins. Because of the reverence for landlords and also because of the fear they tried to maintain a good relationship between the Brahmins.
During the early days Kulalas would only had their food from the houses of Brahmins and Nairs. But now they eat food from even Thiyyas. As the time passed new generation has to eat food from hotels, schools, workplaces etc. But even now Kulalas are reluctant to eat food from Pulaya houses.

Erikkulam Arts & Sports Club
Earlier History
The club was started in 1982. Before the registration the club was named as “Gramina Kalasamithi”. After that it is known as “Erikkulam Arts & Sports Club”.  It functioned as a library. People who had books donated them.
Earlier Memberships
In earlier days the club had members from different communities but most of the members were from community of Kulala. They participated in sports activities like football. Aboobakkar is an example for such a situation.
Duties of the Club
Ø  To develop Arts & Sports skills of everyone.

Ø  Encourage students who made best performance in their studies.

Ø  Rise the unity between the community members.

Ø  Cleanliness of surroundings.



Current Status of the Club
Membership and Functions
The club limits membership only for men in the community of Kulala. The club has no other members from other communities or religion. There is no age limit for membership but most of the members are above 15 years and below 60 years. The committee consists 9 members. The secretary and president have same powers in the committee. The decisions are taken together. Meeting is convened in relation to arts and sports programs. The club has no political affiliation to any political party.
Economy of the Club
For the working of “Gramina Kala Samithi” the club was in need of money which they collected from funds. Kudumbasree self help group for men, 5 SHMG groups named as Anaswara, Gramina, Chirathu, Spandanam, Chethana gave money from 500 to 1000 -helped the club. SHMG groups worked among the community. Other people out of the community also gave volunteer funds to the club when it comes to the conduction of tournament and individual members also gave funds. The club made money also by giving rooms for rent. The club had won first prize in ferry culture from Kasargod district panchayat. Fish were cultured in Temple pond. The profit thus gotten was used for the working of the club.



Sports & Games
Most of the members in the club are football fans. They won many football competitions conducted across the Kasargod district. Football was the favorite game of youth. Women and old people gave their full hearted support for the football matches. Most of the audience were women also. There is a story behind the introduction of football in Erikkulam. Adukkathuparambathu Narayanan is also known as Pattuvakkaran Narayanan (Maniyani Community) who worked in Army. When he came to village in leave he had trained football to the people of Madikkeri. But football was very prevalent even before the arrival of Narayanan. But after the arrival of Narayanan they were taught football laws and became a little professional and unity. The community’s trust and relationships were strengthened by this. But today the situation has changed and the present teams are not very combative.
Social Service

The club has its own model for social service. The Kala Samithi and Lions Club jointly conducted and Ayurvedic Medical Camp to show the relevance of Ayurveda. The club donates blood for the community as well as for others through blood donation camp. This program increases social awareness among the people of Kulala.  Cleaning surroundings on Independence Day, Republic Day, Gandhi Jayanti etc.
Cultural Programs

Cultural programs are conducted along with the festival at Erikkulam, Vettakkorumakan Temple. It is the temple of Kulala community. The programs are aimed to develop the skills of children of Kulala community. Recitations, dance competitions etc are conducted during this. The programs are conducted near to the temple. All Kulala people come to watch the programs. Devotional dramas are also showed along with the festival.
Dramas Held in Connection with the Club.
In early days dramas were staged in the festival of Vettakkorumakan Temple. The artists come mainly from Kannur. Mainly historically dramas were played. Main troupes are Kannur Nadana Kala Kshetra and Kala Mandala Vanaja’s troupe and Mathilelil Kanji. Makkavum Makkalum was one of the dramas staged. A man called Kannan Nair Master who knew Bhagavmrith, Rugmini Swayamvaram etc gave support for dramas to the members of Kulala to perform. Janadrohi was the first drama played by Kulala people. Other dramas played by the community are: Kaithokkum Pullankuzhalum, Molu Ninte Muthalu Ente, Raja Harishchandran, Karnan, Nalacharitham (Naisatham) – Musical Drama (1964 – 65), Punchiriyude Moodupadam, Kalayum Changalum.
The drama instuructor Ambu Perumalayan of Malayan Sect was a performer in Kathakali and he was also the person who played the role of Devayani in dramas. Only people who belonged to the community were the performers in the dramas. Money was raised through volunteer contributions from people. They started studying dramas from the idea to be staged during festivals.


KMSS
Kerala Manpathra Nirmaana Samudaya Sabha
In 1996 december 12th the workers of various pottery associations like Kerala Kulaala Association, Kerela Kulala Federation, Velar Samudaya Sabha, Kulaala Service Society conducted a common conference at VJT Hall Trivandrum. Mainly 6 pottery. They united to get deserving benefits from the government. They conducted collectorate march and strike before secretariat. As part of the secratoriate march they money to buy machines. With that money they bought a few machines and five persons used their money to buy grinding machines for the common purpose. 







GRAMASHREE
The meeting of women in Madikkeyi Gramapanchayat is held under the leadership of ward members of every ward. Each wards formulated 3 Self Help Groups. In the early periods this Groups were called as Gramashrees. Later in 2001 Gramashrees were renamed as Kudumbashrees. These groups have been registered under society act. For the working of Groups under the wards, 35 persons have been assigned to help them by Panchayat. For the coordination and smooth working of the groups there is a P.E.O as the convenor and Pachayat President as the Chairman.

KUDUMBASHREE
  Kudumbashree, which means prosperity of the family, is the name of the women oriented, community based, State Poverty Eradication Mission of Government of Kerala. The mission aims at the empowerment of women, through forming self-help groups and encouraging their entrepreneurial or other wide range of activities. The purpose of the mission is to ensure that the women should no longer remain as passive recipients of public assistance, but active leaders in women involved development initiatives. Kudumbashree project for poverty reduction launched on 17 May 1998.



Women in Kerala
Kerala is a State with an impressive array of achievements in the field of women development and the balance of gender status has stabilised in many fronts.
* The economic marginalisation of women in the development process has drawn considerable attention during recent years. While the female work participation rate in India increased, but in Kerala it declined during the same time. The incidence of unemployment among females in the State is higher than that among males in rural areas and in urban areas. Kerala has a high female literacy rate, a low infant mortality rate (IMR) , a favourable sex ratio, low maternal mortality rate (MMR), High Life Expectancy rate etc., just to mention a few. But in spite of all these achievements the conspicuous absence of women in the public domain remains as a paradox of the Kerala model of development.
* The sexual division of labour has resulted in the concentration of women in low paying unorganized sectors such as agricultural labour, cottage and traditional industries and selected service sectors. Despite the powerful trade union movements, equal wages for equal work still remains a mirage and gender discrimination at the work place is widely prevalent.
    * The marginalisation of women in the economic process and lack of control over resources have been major impediments in improving the status of women.
* The violence against women and incidence of sexual harassment continue to increase.

Despite the general progressive political environment in the State, active involvement of women in various leadership levels are virtually lacking.
History
Kudumbashree was born off of the collective experience gained from the many anti-poverty programs of the past. Most of the well conceived, centrally planned, rigid, individual-oriented anti-poverty programs of the Central and State Governments failed to bring about the desired results, mainly because they didn't allow for the involvement and commitment of the poor and viewed the poor as "resourceless" receivers of benefits.
Poverty is a multi-faced state of deprivation. Hence by meeting one's disadvantage in the lives of the poor, poverty cannot be eradicated or mitigated. Naturally, the un-co-ordinated, income criteria based programs implemented by different agencies did not come good. Moreover, though the delivery costs of such programmes were exorbitant, they were very much susceptible to under-reporting and manipulations. But in 1992 an innovative program introduced by the Local Administration Department of the Government of Kerala in Alappuzha Municipality was a fresh ray of hope. The program created hierarchical community groups of urban poor women identified through objective parameters and empowered the groups to take up community based action in various sectors. This was an instant success and was extended to the other urban areas in the State. In 1994, the Government implemented a very ambitious replication of the program in the whole of Malappuram District including the rural areas.


The mission
The mission of Kudumbashree is “to eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through concerted community action under the leadership of local governments, by facilitating organization of the poor for combining self-help with demand-led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestations of poverty, holistically”.
The specific objectives are:
   1. Identification of the poor families through risk indices based surveys, with the active participation of the poor and the communities to which they belong.
   2. Empowering the poor women to improve the productivity and managerial capabilities of the community by organizing them into CBOs.
   3. Encouraging thrift and investment through credit by developing CDSs to work as informal bank of the poor.
   4. Improving incomes of the poor through improved skills and investment for self -employment.
   5. Ensuring better health and nutrition for all.
   6. Ensuring basic amenities like safe drinking water, sanitary latrines improved shelter and healthy environment.
   7. Ensuring a minimum of 5 years of primary education for all children, belonging to risk families.
   8. Enabling the poor to participate in the decentralization process through the CDS, as it is a subsystem of the local government, under which it works.
To achieve the specific objectives of the Mission, several auxiliary objectives are pursued methodically.
Organisation
Program Implementation Team
The activities of Kudumbashree mission is controlled by a state level office, headed by an IAS officer and at district level a District Mission Team . At the panchayath level a charge officer is given the responsibility of the administration along with the CDS governing committee. The officials are government employees working on deputation with the mission. Besides, part-time consultants and experts are also engaged for specific tasks.
The following are the community structures suggested for the rural side:
* Kudumbashree Ayalkoottam (NHG)
 * Kudumbashree Ward Samithy (ADS)
 * Kudumbashree Panchayat Samithy (CDS)
The paradigm shift in the approach is that any women who is residing in the Grama Panchayat can become a member of the Kudumbashree Ayalkoottam irrespective of the fact that she belong to a below poverty line (BPL) Family. Since this aspect gives an opening for the APL families to enter into the community structures envisaged by Kudumbashree, it is further ensured that majority of the office bearers should belong to BPL families. These structures give added importance to women empowerment both social and economic.

Community Development Society (CDS)

 At the Panchayat / Municipal level a Community Development Society (CDS), a registered body under the Travancore-Cochin Literacy Scientific and Charitable Societies Act is formed by federating all ADSs in the Panchayats.
The CDS is constituted by

     1. General Body    - It consists of all ADS Governing Body members.
     2. Executive Committee - CDS Executive committee includes representatives of each ADS General body corresponding to total number of ADS and also include a Chairperson & Vice Chairperson elected by the CDS executive committee, CDS member secretary nominated by LSGI as ex officio member, 5 women elected representatives of LSGIs two experienced ex-CDS Chairpersons as co-opted ex officio members. Proportionate representation of SC, ST communities is also ensured.
Area Development Society (ADS)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
The second tier is the Area Development Society, which is formed at ward level by federating all the NHGs in the ward. The activities of the ADS are decided by the representatives of the women elected from various NHGs. The Area Development Society consists of 

 1. General Body - consisting of all Presidents, Secretaries & 3 sectoral volunteers of the federated NHG's
 2. Executive Committee - The Executive Committee of the Area Development Society consists of 7 members elected by the ADS general body which include a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary.

 Neighbourhood Group (NHG)

    The lowest tier constitutes The Neighbourhood Group consisting of 10-20 women members from economically backward families.
Meetings are convened on a weekly basis in the house of NHG members. In the weekly meetings all members bring their thrift, which will be collected and recycled to the system by way of sanctioning loans. The NHG has 5 office bearers, who are internally selected. They are:

  1.President
  2.Secretary
  3.IGAvolunteer
  4.Health & Education Volunteer
  5. Infrastructure volunteer
There are 10 Kudumbashree units working under Kulala community. Among these 5 of the units completely supported by Kulala community alone. They are: Keerthi, Erikkulam East, Kairali, Oruma, Niradeepam. Other Units with significant majority of Kulala Women: Aavani, Nanma, Arunima, Surabhi, Margadeepam.


Membership/Affiliation:
An NHG can have 10-20 women members with one woman (of 18 years and above) representing one family within the area covered by the NHG. As part of the ward division in 2013 it was ordered that only a person from that ward can become member of that ward’s unit. Because of this new Kudumbashree units were formed and old ones were replaced. Now 8, 9 and 10 wards of the panchayat include Kulala women. If any of the members choose to resign, the membership could be taken up by another woman of the same family. The status quo should be maintained with regard to the current memberships as existing as on the day this byelaw comes to effect.
Although membership to NHG is only for one woman from a family within the NHG, other women in the family can also attend the NHG discussions and meetings. They can take part in study groups and development activities organised by the NHG, ADS and CDS.
Election
 Elections should be conducted once in every three years (should be completed by the month of November) to the CDS governing body, the seven member ADS governing body and the 5 member NHG governing body by convening special election general body meetings. One person can only be elected twice to the office bearer positions mentioned below:
i. NHG President
ii. NHG Secretary
iii. ADS Chairperson
iv. ADS Vice Chairperson
v. ADS Secretary
·         CDS Chairperson
·         CDS Vice Chairperson
Working Fund
Kudumbashree NHGs shall have its own fund for its operations. Such funds like entrance fees, membership fees, monthly subscription fees, interest received from the members, penalty interests, contributions, profits from operations, grants received from financial institutions and other agencies, loans, fiscal aids, profit and share of income from micro enterprises shall be treated as fund for operations and such funds shall be incorporated in the NHG accounts.
The thrift funds and every other fund collected by the NHG has to be deposited in a joint account with cheque facility in the official names of the president and secretary of the NHG with a nationalised/commercial or co-operative bank selected by the NHG general body.


Strategies
The action plan charted out for Kudumbashree is:-
 * Formation of women collectives.
The poor women from families identified will be organised into Neighbourhood Groups (NHG) representing 10 to 20 families. Team elected from the NHGs will be the cutting edge of the programme. NHGs will be federated democratically into Area Development Societies (ADS) at the Panchayat/Municipality Ward level and then into Community Development Societies (CDS) at the Panchayat/Municipal level. Their organizational structures will provide opportunities for collective public action.
 * More information/training.
Weekly meetings of NHGs, sharing of experiences, discussions, organised/unorganized trainings etc., will broaden their outlook on better health, better education, better social and economic status.
* Thrift - credit operations and 24 hour banking system.
Enabling women to realize their latent potential, strengthening them through self-help are the main objectives of Kudumbashree. Small savings generated at the families are pooled at various levels as thrift and used to attract credit from banks, which will operate as 24-hour bank for the poor, acting as a sub-system of the formal banks.


 * Micro-enterprises for sustainable economic development.
Providing skill upgradation trainings, self-employment opportunities and infrastructural development through wage employment schemes are the preparing grounds for further development of successful micro enterprises. Kudumbashree is bent on giving necessary resource support and facilitate forward/backward linkages etc., to promote micro-entrepreneurship among poor women.
 * Power to the people especially the poor women.
The skill for identification of needs, fixing priorities, availing resources, bridging gap between needs and resources in a cost effective manner etc., are taught to the Kulala women groups in various phases. In the decentralization of power to the local bodies and common man, Kudumbashree can act as a healthy sub-system facilitating participation of Kulala women in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the programme.
 * Leadership - decision making power.
Interaction in women collectives will help them to have a better understanding, which will lead to the emergence of leadership. This will help to ensure efficient women leadership to elected governments in future.
 * The ultimate goal.
Reaching out family through women, and community through family, is the ultimate target of Kudumbashree. The ultimate goal Kulala women achieved through this is the freedom the womenfolk of Kulala community enjoyed.

Collective Farming
Collective Farming is an initiative introduced by Kudumbashree to encourage cultivation by neighbourhood groups. It not only brings in significant changes in the lives of the poor but also helps to increase agricultural production by bringing fallow and cultivable waste land into agricultural use, and has significance as a food security measure. Women enter the programme as cultivators as opposed to agricultural labour and control over the means of production and access to formal credit help in increasing the returns from farming. The programme is being implemented in all districts with the support of LSGs. Joint liability groups of women farmers are formed under the collective farming initiative to help women cultivators access agricultural credit from the banking system. Joint Liability Groups are also formed and run by the Kulala communities. These JLGs are structured along NABARD guidelines, and open bank accounts in the name of the JLG. JLGs are brought under the purview of Interest subsidy scheme of Kudumbashree(ISS). They become eligible for ISS when they avail agricultural loan from banks. 5% subsidy on 7% interest agricultural loan is provided by state government of Kerala through Kudumbashree.  Self Work Initiatives:Mridika and Chirath
The above groups were formed in 2010. These units were collapsed later on because most of the women had not known the potter work and also the economic problems. As part of the JLG Kudumbashree started a hotel at Erikkulam. But it was collapsed because it was not lucrative. Yet this was a bold step took by the women of Kulala community.

MNREGS

The National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme is a wage employment programme launched by Govt. of India which guarantees 100 days of manual work to anyone who registers under the programme and seeks work. It is executed through the panchayats of the country, and has a very strong rights based elements in it. Kulalas also take part in this program. This is an alternative source of money to the community. In Kerala the ward level committee of Kudumbashree, the ADS has been entrusted with the task of organizing public works under MNREGS. Muster Rolls and other records are maintained by the ADS, implements are provided to labourers by them. Welfare amenities to the workers are also provided by the ADS. The involvement of Kudumbashree has brought a lot of women into the programme.
Informal Banking System
The three-tier community based CDS system, envisaged for poverty alleviation in Kudumbashree approach, will take up the informal banking responsibility also.The poor women should be able to approach the informal banks whenever necessity occurs. Women of the Kulala community find themselves useful in this program and this offers them a 24 hours availability for money. The doors of the banks should be open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The informal banks are formed with the active involvement of every member belonging to the Self Help Group. An Informal Bank doesn't need an office building, furniture and other paraphernalia we normally relate with a formal bank.

The strength of an informal bank is the intimate relationship between the members of the Self Help Group. The Kulala members know each other's potentials weaknesses and problems. The members can deposit even trifle amount in the thrift scheme of the banks. Informal bank always tried to encourage saving habit among poor women. An informal bank can provide collateral free loans with the terms and conditions decided by the group. The Self Help Group behind the informal bank is free to fix market driven rates of interest for advances. Every operation of an informal bank takes place in the group level, including depositing of thrift amounts and sanctioning of thrift loans. The groups itself decides the eligibility of a member to get assistance from the bank after discussions and assessment of the need and repayment capacity.
The very existence of an Informal Bank brings about the homogeneity and affinity among members of the poor. Thrift savings of the members serve as the main bondage among members. The bank promote regularity in savings and assures sufficient frequency for group meetings. The informal banks will instill collective decision-making capability among the poor women. This sublime quality will be of great assistance to them for their fight against poverty and their participation in planning process and economic development activities. Informal banks will slowly do away with the subsidy syndrome prevailing in the lowest stratum of the society. The poor women will begin to enjoy the unique pleasure of doing things with their own money. The financial empowerment of women achieved through thrift and bank accessibility will improve their status in their own families and society. Naturally, their confidence will increase. Above all Informal Banks provide loans to the poor women at their own doorsteps without any hassle.

Once the informal banks of the NHGs, ADSs and CDS reach a certain level of maturity, they can grant loans to the members for genuine needs. Poor need financial assistance for several purposes, falling under four major categories

 BALASABHA

The Balasabhas are structured neighbourhood network of children. Each Sabha consist of 15 – 30 children in the age group of 5 – 15 years. The prime objective of constituting Balasabhas is to prevent inter-generational transmission of poverty through capability enhancement of children. Small Learning Groups for experimental and systematic learning, opportunities for understanding democratic process, participation in conserving environment, enabling children to unfold the intricacies of collectivisation are the basic focal points of Balasabha.
Bala Panchayats/Balanagarasabhas at the Panchayat/Nagarasabha level and Bala Parliament at District level serve as consortiums for the needs and demands of children. Open discussions on current affairs, Role plays, and Action research tools are appropriately used for maximum participation in Bala Panchayats. Since the Bala Panchayats/Bala Parliament aims at bringing children in the decision making process, a proper guidance mechanism with the help of resource persons is sought.

Balasabha - Major Programmes

Biodiversity initiatives
Biodiversity is the programme to understand the importance of conservation and protection of nature and environment. It is an attempt to create awareness among children through activities and video presentations. It also aims to spread the message throughout the society through children.
Four plus (4+) Campaigns
Four plus campaign is an awareness programme regarding communicable diseases. It aims to create awareness in the society regarding the diseases through the children.Conducting trainings,Collaboration with state health department, Cleaning programmes, door to door campaigns, awareness programmes etc.
Holistic Health Programme
It is a new initiative of Kudumbashree for children to improve their physical, mental and social wellbeing.

·         Providing coaching in games- football/ Volley ball/ Swimming.
·         To improve the physical and mental efficiency.
·         Game centric clusters – volleyball, football, basketball.
·         Pilot project in 22 block Panchayats.
·         Play space will be provided by Grama Panchayats.
·         Child friendly coaches, resource persons. 
·         Refreshments, play equipment and gear from Kudumbashree.
·         Fixtures and fitness monitoring.
 Small Learning Groups
Small learning groups are formed by Balasabha to carry out study in different topics of interest. In these learning groups, children study about different areas like biodiversity, local environmental issues, local social issues, health issues, educational issues etc.
 Mediact
It is a programme to create media awareness among children. It will help children to understand the new trends of media.
 Apart from the calendar events envisaged under the project, as mentioned above, many contextual programmes are also undertaken by the district mission offices. District specific programmes like Stamina 2010 (sports and games related), Vismaya (science related), Swapnathumbikal (addressing social issues), and Kadhayarangu (literary activities) are some of the commendable initiatives that gained momentum for Balasabha/Bala Panchayat activities in districts.
Balapanchayats
Balapanchayats have been formed in gramapanchayats.The project was started with the support of UNICEF initially. Kudumbashree initiatives of Balasabha and Balapanchayaths enable to impart voice, face and power to children hailing from poor and vulnerable socio economic backgrounds.The idea behind the BalaPanchayath is the creation of a children’s forum where children issues and concerns can be bought to the notice of local development planners- i.e. the LSGs. The focus is on providing a rights based debating space on the one hand, and opportunities for involving children in local development oriented activities - either as participant or as monitor on the other. One such interface has been that of local environmental audits conducted by the children of Kudumbashree.
Balasabha in Kulala Community
          There are four Bhalasabha worked in Kulala community. Bhalasabha was founded in 2005 and separated according to the Panjayath ward rearrangement and four new Bhalasabhas are found. During early periods there is no activities organized by Bhalasaha. Bhalasabha meetings were conducted when Kudubhasree happened. Bhalasabha has separate committee and a president and secretary. For the help of Bhalasabha there are two members Kudumbhasree were appointed. Different ranges of money are collected in each week as deposit. But generally money is collected in the range of 5 to 50  this money this money is deposited in the account of Kudumbhasree members can withdraw their money any time but in general case they withdraw their money when they returned. And the money also withdraw by the permission of their parents. For developing saving mentality in children this program was very helpful.
Bhalasabha Panchayath Committee
     The working of Bhalasabha  inpanchayath was controlled by committee of 8 members. Social developing subcommittee convers in CDS smt.SathejiniRajendren lead a committee will promote activities of children..
Committee Members
President- Arun Kumar k
UP- V Roshny Ramesh
Secretary- K Shamna
Education standing committee- Lavanya M V
Arts and cultural committee- Aswathi P.V
Health and Eco Standing committee- Nandhana V
Sports standing committee – Shilpa
Member-                             Prejith K.T










SHG (Self Help Group) Males
The Men’s Self Help Group was formed in 2011 in a meeting held in the auditorium of the temple. 5 Self Help Groups were formed during this. They are  Anaswara, Gramina, Chirath, Spandanam and Chethana. It was through lots that every member of the group was selected. 20 people were given accommodation in a group. The Group convenes the meeting once in a week. All the meetings were held in Sunday evenings in the fields. Each group collected funds for a week but the fund was different. The group could decide how much amount is to be collected. If a person resigns from a group another person will come to the group automatically. 20 people were necessary to start a new group. There is no age limit to join the group yet adults were only accommodated to the group. Loans are given to members of the group. The loan had an interest rate of 2 rupees for a month for 100 rupees. The group convened in Sundays gave cheque to the members who can draw money from Madikkeyi Service Co-operative Bank. If a person is not regular in the meetings without sufficient reasons he will be fined. The committee would give gift or money for marriage ceremonies, house warming etc. Subsidies from Krishibhavan, Panchayat and Block Panchayat are gotten for cultivating crops. Some of the members got 6000 rupees in the year 2012. Because of the activities of the SHG they have started participating in the Gramasabha. Cleaning, road making, blood donation, palliative care charity works for cancer patients, health camps etc are done by the SHG. N.P Sarada who – tumour, K. Narayanan – Cancer, Sisupalan – Snake Bite are some people inside the community who benefitted from the SHGM. The people and organizations that are outside the community and benefitted by SHGM: Anitha – Cancer, Madikkeyi Palliative Care.








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