The Kudumbashree Mission will pilot two Coir and Craft stores in the State to provide a market for products manufactured by industries such as coir that employ women in large numbers.
The stores are being set up as part of the Chief Minister’s 100-day programme. The stores will be piloted in Kasaragod and Alappuzha districts, though administrative sanction has been received to set up 300 of the targeted 500 stores. The store in Alappuzha will be at the municipal complex inside the Alappuzha private bus stand and that in Kasaragod at the Kalikadavu panchayat building at Pilicode.
The stores, with an area between 100 and 500 sq ft, will provide a market for products manufactured by Kudumbashree enterprises and Kerala State Coir Corporation Ltd., with which it has entered into an agreement, apart from handicrafts. There also plans to include cashew and products from other public sector undertakings such as Milma and Kerafed.
The stores are also intended to double up as a storage for Kudumbashree Home Shops so that Kudumbashree women can pick up products from these store-cum-warehouses and distribute them to households. All panchayats have been directed find available commercial space for Kudumbashree to set up the Coir and Craft Store.
Loan and subsidy
The Kudumbashree will provide a soft loan of ₹5 lakh for starting each store. The mission has also fixed the layout for the stores.
The beneficiaries have to be Kudumbashree enterprise groups, area development societies (ADS) or community development societies (CDS). Interest on the loan for the enterprise groups is 4%, while that for CDS or ADS committees is zero. The maximum repayment period is six years
The Kudumbashree will provide a subsidy of ₹1.5 lakh to the beneficiaries subject to conditions. Its first instalment of ₹50,000 will be sanctioned if the interest and principle of the loan are paid in time in the first six months. If the payments for the next six months are also made in time, another ₹50,000 is allowed. The last instalment will be sanctioned when the repayment is complete.
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