Mending Lives

Dhanuja Kumari

Haritha Karma Sena member and Writer

I am a resident of Rajaji Nagar colony, earlier known as Chengalchoola, in Thampanoor ward of T hiruvananthapuram district. The most important decision that transformed my life was to first join Kudumbashree and then Haritha Karma Sena. It has been truly the biggest blessing of my life. And I can vouch for the fact that scores of women in our state feels the same way. All my life, I have seen women struggling to make ends meet with the income that the men in the family brought. With this income, they ran the household, met children’s education expenses, health care expenses, unexpected emergencies and what not. On most days, it fell short and the women had to f ind the extra money, pulling them into a perennial juggle of household management. And whatever needs they had or desires they nurtured were eternally brushed under the carpet. With the relentless chastisement that they received right from infantile days, these poor souls were conditioned to always sacrifice their interests for the larger good. And make no mistake; this was the plight of educated women too. T hat’s when a movement called Kudumbashree extended a ray of hope for us. Women, educated and uneducated, started earning income on their own and what a huge difference it brought to their lives! Today, the money we earn defines our freedom, our dignity. We have the freedom to spend it on our own. We do not have to depend on anyone else. Many members of Haritha Karma Sena are not much educated, but today they are far ahead in calculations. For they earn not in thousands, but in ten thousands and more. There are Haritha Karma Sena members who earn up to ninety thousand rupees a month.

I work in Kudappanakunnu Chettivalakam ward. The Haritha Karma Sena here consists of 13 people. There are 2900 houses in the ward. The initial days of Haritha Karma Sena were a real struggle. There was a form of resistance from many. We had terrible experiences from the residents and that too, to my surprise, mostly from educated people. Many have ridiculed us and some has even intimidated us. But they didn’t know how many families in Kerala are living happily with this income. Slowly things started changing for the better and now we receive great acceptance. Today, we have an income of around twenty thousand rupees a month.

We are eternally grateful to our government for starting such a movement and we are extremely satisfied with our work. Self-reliance is the key to self-esteem and today we walk with our heads held high.