Thiruvananthapuram : Two Kudumbashree Ayalkoottam members will be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function Lakhpati Didis organized to honour self-help groups from across the country at Jalgaon in Maharashtra on Sunday. Selected to represent Kerala, Sudha Devdas, from Mala in Thrissur district, and Elsy Ouseph, of Thuravoor in Ernakulam district, have reached Maharashtra. Sudha will have the opportunity to interact with the Prime Minister.
A member of Kuzhur grama panchayat, Sudha joined the Prakruthi neighbourhood group in 2011. To earn a livelihood from agriculture, she turned to group farming. Presently, Sudha and her team cultivate various crops like rice, banana, yam, spinach and beans on about 22 acres.
They also formed the Mahila Rice Producers Company. Sudha has also completed training under the Drone Didi scheme to generate income using drones for agricultural purposes, said a press release. As a community development society member, she has fulfilled her responsibilities and is also a gender resource person.
Elsy was earlier in Mumbai but returned to her hometown in 2008 after her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Struggling to make both ends meet, Elsy learnt about Kudumbashree. In 2012, she started a neighbourhood group named Kanchana.
She participated in various training programmes. In 2018, the neighbourhood group members formed a collective farming group named Nirapara and began agricultural activities. A Kudumbashree resource person in agricu.