Kerala has always been a frontrunner in the field of women development and the balance of gender status. The state has a high female literacy rate of 92%, compared to the national average of 65.46. Women continue to outnumber men in Kerala with sex ratio increasing to 1,084 in 2011 from 1,058 in 2001. 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. But the conspicuous absence of women in the public domain remains as a paradox of the Kerala model of development.
Kudumbashree, meaning the family’s prosperity, is one of the flagship programmes of the government of Kerala centred on woman empowerment and has been successful in giving hope to millions of impoverished women and their families in Kerala. Originally launched in 1998 for wiping out absolute poverty from the State, Kudumbashree is today one of the largest womenempowering....
