On the narrow verandah adjacent to the elephant training centre at Konni in Pathanamthitta, a 50-something woman stands beside a chair and a small table.
Lekha Suresh is wearing a white overcoat over a yellow churidar, and her identity card hangs around her neck. On her table are a medical kit, a mobile, and some papers. A display board that hangs from the low ceiling mentions the services she provides: testing for cholesterol, hemoglobin or HB, blood pressure, and blood sugar, along with the fees she charges for each one of these tests.
She is a member of the Kerala government's 'Santhwanam' project under 'Kudumbashree', the women's poverty alleviation and empowerment programme launched in 1997 that has since grown to become the world's largest network of women with around 4.6 million members.
'Santhwanam' (consolation in English) aims to address a critical gap in the state's health sector by providing door-to-door diagnostic services through trained personnel. Lekha remembers the time she desperately wanted to get out of her home and earn some income for herself.
"Though I was a qualified nurse, I was spending my life as a homemaker. Then, I saw an advertisement in the newspaper inviting applicants for the Santhwanam project. After the interview at the (Pathanamthitta) Collectorate, there was a training for us at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College," she says.
After 15 days of intense training, Lekha was inducted into the job. "Unlike the nursing job at a hospital, where there are night duties and strict work schedules, here we can work according to our convenience," she explains the advantages of the project.
In places like Konni, Santhwanam members like Lekha provide the services on demand for patients, who cannot regularly visit clinics or pathological laboratories.
"Before they fix an appointment with the doctor for a medical check-up, the patients call me and get the tests done. If you go to the hospital, it will take hours to get the test results. Through our services, patients can visit the doctors along with their test results. We also provide the tests at considerably lower rates as compared to the established pathological labs," she explains.
On an average, Lekha earns Rs 15,000/month, after meeting all expenses including fuel for the scooter and mobile bills. Kudumbashree assists Santhwanam members by providing a loan of Rs 50,000 with a subsidy component of Rs 7,500.
Lekha's husband is into farming while her only daughter is pursuing M-Tech, and her earnings help her to stand on her feet.
'The district collector comes to have lunch here'
Konni is part of Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, where former Kerala finance minister TM Thomas Isaac, the chairman of the committee that founded the Kudumbashree movement 27 years ago under the then EK Nayanar-led CPM government, is pitted against three-time Congress MP Anto Antony and BJP's Anil K Antony.
"I have seen sir (Thomas Isaac) during our various programmes. We owe a lot to him," says Lekha, but adds that she doesn't want to talk about politics and the elections. "I don't want to get into trouble," she says with a coy smile.
The Konni assembly segment is represented by CPM's KU Jenish Kumar, and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) believes it has a chance to get a sizable number of votes and lead from this part of the parliamentary constituency.
Some 20-odd kilometers away at the Kudumbashree-run canteen inside the PWD Rest House at Aranmula, six women are winding up after another hectic day's work. It's the 10th consecutive year that these women have successfully, and profitably, run this canteen.
"Before starting this canteen, some of us were working as domestic help at nearby homes, others were into thozhil urappu padhadhi (NREGA or the rural employment guarantee scheme). Then during one of the meetings of the neighbourhood groups, we were told about a proposal to hand over the canteen at PWD rest houses to the Kudumbashree members. We were told to spread the word among the neighbourhood groups," says Praveena, the leader of the six-member team that runs the canteen.
The neighbourhood groups or NHGs are an important cog in the Kudumbashree wheel.
"We were keen to run the canteen as we wanted to do something that earns us respect and a decent income. We also wanted to get out from the mundane work at home," she added.
Praveena says that initially there was resistance from within their close family members. "There was an apprehension to send us to work at rest houses, especially the perception in the society about women going to work at rest houses," she confesses.
"It was difficult to explain what the 'rest house' was," she says and laughs.
Though a loan of Rs three lakh was sanctioned from the Kudumbashree Mission, they could not use it for one year because women were reluctant to come forward. "But, once we started the canteen, it clicked instantly. Now, we have a situation where women come to us asking if we could give them jobs," Praveena says.
Though the canteen serves breakfast, lunch, and evening tea, lunch is their main business. On an average, this Kudumbashree canteen serves 100 meals a day, charging Rs 70/meal. During the 2018 floods, these women supplied as many as 1,500-plus meals per day.
The women also deliver the lunch parcels to government offices, bank branches, and the police station, all in the near vicinity. "The district collector comes here to have lunch," says a beaming Praveena.
Each one of the six women owns a scooter, which is used to deliver the lunch parcels at various places in the town. The vegetarian lunch the canteen serves, at Rs 70, may appear on par with the rates at hotels nearby.
"For a one-year tender, we paid Rs 1.40 lakh. Plus we have to pay the electricity and the water bills. We also have to pay the salary for our six members," explains Praveena.
"What we offer to our customers is quality, tasty and healthy food, which is cooked in most hygienic conditions," she says and points out that they bought a refrigerator for the canteen just recently, only to provide cool water to the customers.
"We don't keep any leftovers inside the fridge. Till a few months back, we were giving only boiled water to our customers but due to the scorching heat this season, customers started demanding cold water," she says. "We don't keep anything inside the fridge, other than the water. Even the milk and curd for daily use are bought every morning."
The women earn an average of Rs 600/day, after meeting all the expenses. "There are also days when we earned Rs 5,000 per person," she says.
All these women know the role played by Kudumbashree in turning around their lives, and fortunes. But, they won't talk politics as Kudumbashree is widely accepted and recognised as CPM's baby though successive governments including Congress-led UDF have provided the women's initiative with admirable support and backing from time to time.
"Workers of all political parties are our customers. Yes, we can confidently say our vote is for Isaac sir. But, we cannot send the message outside. On an individual basis, we can tell our people to give the votes to Isaac sir,' adds another woman, sitting across the dining table.
Aranmula assembly segment, where their canteen is situated, is represented by CPM's Veena George, who serves as the health minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet.
The women working to make garbage-free Kerala a reality
The next morning, we travelled to Adoor, also part of the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency.
On a sweaty morning, at the Material Collection Facility (MCF) on the second floor of the municipal building, some 30-odd women of the Haritha Karma Sena, another section of Kudumbashree Mission, are busy segregating the non-biodegradable waste they have collected from houses and shops.
The idea behind the Haritha Karma Sena is to work towards a garbage-free Kerala as the Kudumbashree members collect non-biodegradable waste from houses and establishments to shredding units for recycling. Importantly, the work would ensure a regular stream of income for these women.
The local Haritha Karma Sena came into existence in 2017 though the Sena was formed state-wide in 2013. There are 56 women in this HKS unit, informs Sindhu, president of the Adoor unit. "We start from 9.30 am onwards, and the work involves collecting waste such as bottles, spray bottles, plastic, etc. We collect anything other than food waste and sanitary pads," Sindhu says.
Each Kudumbashree worker here visits around 300 houses to collect non-biodegradable waste. Before this unit came into existence, these women were into sundry jobs that got them measly income -- some reared hens to sell 'naadan' or desi eggs, while others prepared and sold chili and coriander powders.
"We had only small quantities, which were sold within our Kudumbashree members itself," points out Leela Kumari, the secretary of the Adoor HKS unit.
It was then the Kudumbashree-backed Haritha Karma Sena's idea was floated in this town. The HKS or the 'Green Army' of women segregates the waste and submits them to the Clean Kerala Company under the Local Self Government Department of the state government. The HKS visits a house twice a week, and they charge a fee of Rs 60/month. But things were not hunky-dory on the ground in the beginning.
"No one was cooperating initially. If there are 300 people in a ward, only half of them would cooperate with us. After our awareness programmes, most people now cooperate with us. But again, receiving the payment from houses is a very difficult task. The houses where only two people live refuse to supply the non-biodegradable waste, saying they don't generate enough of the stuff. They don't pay us too," explains Sindhu.
Despite all the hassles and hurdles, an HKS member earns around Rs 8,600/month now, and add to this the plastic supplied for shredding, the income rises to Rs 10,000/month. Ask them about elections, the HKS members say they are all "independent" and would vote as per their conscience. Adoor is also a Left-held assembly constituency with CPI's Chittayam Gopakumar being the local MLA.
Grandiose plans, but needs the win first
As the Lok Sabha election campaign reaches the fever pitch, the poll strategists for CPM candidate Isaac know very well that the Kudumbashree network if tapped effectively, can break Congress' Anto Antony's winning streak in the constituency. But, he should tread with caution as any overt attempt to solicit votes from Kudumbashree members openly may invite attention.
Early in the campaign, an over-enthusiastic Isaac invited the reprimand of the district election officer after video footage confirmed that he had interacted with Kudumbashree members, seeking votes during their official event.
The CPM central committee member is also wooing another segment of voters -- the educated women homemakers who are idling away their time at their homes. He has been camping in Pathanamthitta 6-7 months before the announcement of the elections, and promising jobs for youngsters, especially women, through the 'Vijnana Pathanamthitta' (Knowledge-driven Pathanamthitta) initiative.
As finance minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government (2016-21), he had been propounding a knowledge-centred technology-based local economy and developing programmes for the workforce to improve their employability and adapt to new forms of work.
Isaac is known for his grandiose plans, which critics term 'good on paper, unimplementable on the ground'. If his past track record is to go by, there could be some surprises in store for the constituency. But, before that gets to happen, the 71-year-old economist needs to get past his first, and perhaps the most important hurdle -- winning the Pathanamthitta seat. Everything else can wait, for the time being.
