We have supported more than 781 women's self-help groups including 10,500 members, with a cumulative fund base of INR 17.4m. These projects helped us gain insights from the experiences of our civil society partners, our employees and volunteers. Dhanalaxmi, a self-help group member from Tuticorin, was the recipient of the CII Women Exemplar Award for 2008.
KCM invested training, infrastructure support and material assistance into a 53-member women’s cooperative project that was designed to cater for one of the most vulnerable sections of society: widows. The original six-month pilot project covered three modules - tailoring, design and business management. The next phase involved education on business management. These training modules were jointly delivered by KCM and Don Bosco Youth Training Centre at Chingola. The co-operative eventually won the contract for supplying KCM with overalls and dustcoats. The new business is now diversifying and aims to design, produce and market traditional garments and school uniforms locally.