Chennai: It was between 2012 and 2015 that multiple infant deaths hit Attappadi, a tribal taluk in the Palakkad district of Kerala. Thampu, a non-government organisation working to uplift the tribal population across the state, brought the issue to the mainstream.
Realising that malnourishment among mothers needed an immediate address to tackle the crisis, Thampu launched an initiative — Karthumbi Umbrellas — in 2014. It revolved around making and selling locally produced umbrellas and aimed to provide the mothers with employment opportunities and financial security.
Nearly a decade later, the Karthumbi umbrellas are basking in the glory of national attention, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the 30th episode of his Mann Ki Baat, the prime minister mentioned the initiative, heaping praises. It, he said, not only demonstrated “women’s power” but also perfectly exemplified “vocal for local”.
കേരളത്തിൽ ഗോത്രസമൂഹങ്ങൾ എങ്ങനെ ശാക്തീകരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു എന്നതിന്റെ പ്രചോദനാത്മകമായ കൂട്ടായ ശ്രമം ഇതാ. #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/4Ugu5eMiVi
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 30, 2024
“Led by women, the tribal community of Attappadi has set a wonderful example of entrepreneurship. Today, Karthumbi umbrellas are completing the journey from a small village in Kerala to multinational companies. What can be a better example of being ‘vocal for local’,” the PM said in his first Mann Ki Baat after the general elections.
Modi’s mention of the venture also assumes political significance since it comes amid his party’s push for making headway into the southern state after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won its first Lok Sabha seat in Thrissur last month.
“We are all delighted with the Prime Minister’s statement. It’s a good recognition for all of us,” said 45-year-old Lakshmi Unnikrishnan, the initiative coordinator.
Lakshmi, who joined Thampu in 2012 as a volunteer, prepared the organisation’s maiden report on the infant deaths in Attappadi.
“It was a difficult time for all of us. Our traditional food, leaves and other vegetables are not available now. We can’t do agriculture because of the wildlife attacks. Our lifestyle has changed, and above all, we needed money, a lack of which resulted in all the issues,” Lakshmi told ThePrint.
Thampu realised that coming up with a self-employment scheme was the only way out, she added.
According to the Kerala health department, Attappadi recorded 31 infant deaths in 2013 alone. While the state government puts the number of infant deaths between 2012 and 2015 at 48, Rajendra Prasad, the president of Thampu, said mothers reported nearly 200 infant deaths in that period.
According to a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research in 2023, the region recorded 136 neonatal and infant deaths between 2012 and 2021. The study also found that anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies were widespread problems across all age groups among the tribal population in Attappadi.
Thampu, in the beginning, was supported by an organisation of Dubai-based Keralites, the Peace Collective, which helped collect a zero-interest loan from the Malayali migrant population in Dubai. The Peace Collective also helped Thampu launch a website for selling the Karthumbi umbrellas.
In 2017, the then minister for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, A.K. Balan, announced a grant of Rs 17 lakh for the initiative.
According to Rajendra Prasad, the organisation has trained nearly 360 mothers aged between 18-45 so far. The women are provided with raw materials at their homes and make the umbrellas at their convenience as many also work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005. Some of the women are engaged in cattle farming too in the region.
If there are bulk orders, the women, 25-60 of them from different hamlets, gather at Palakkad’s Agali Panchayat community hall for better coordination.
Apart from selling the umbrellas online, the Agali, Sholayur, and Puthur panchayats within the Palakkad district, as well as Kochi’s Infopark and Technopark and Kochi Refineries Ltd. (formerly known as Cochin Refineries Ltd.), order them in bulk.
The maker gets Rs 30 per umbrella. However, the work only lasts from January to May until the southwest monsoon sets in.
According to K.A. Ramu, the convener of the Thampu organisation, the initiative could employ several women from 16 of the total 192 settlements in the Attapadi taluk.
Hailing from the Irula community in the Nallasinga village under the Sholayur panchayat, Lakshmi said the initiative was able to help many mothers in the region, especially during the school reopening season. A mother of three teenagers, Lakshmi also makes the umbrellas, apart from coordinating with the other beneficiaries.
Lakshmi told ThePrint she has been getting calls from many women across the Attapadi taluk asking for employment opportunities for the past two days since local news channels and newspapers published the news about Modi’s mention of the initiative.
“We can expand it (the initiative) to making bags, clothes, etc. We have the skill and know-how in sales and marketing. But, we need funds for that (expansion),” Lakshmi said, adding that the area needs more self-employment initiatives as most of the population is solely dependent on MGNREGA, which is not a regular income source.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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