Kerala's state poverty eradication mission has a phenomenal organisation of women even by global perspective Till five years ago, life for 30-year-old Sheeja was a mountain that she couldn't climb. A sick husband who couldn't work and three school-going children - Sheeja's shoulders couldn't carry all the financial burdens alone. She worked for daily wages in a nearby garment factory. Life had no hope. But since she joined Kudumbashree and became an active member of the Ayalkkoottam (neighbourhood group), life has taken a new turn. She and three of her group members now run a successful confectionery and baking unit. The pall of gloom has left her eyes, which now have a glitter of hope. Or consider the story of Shyja from Kannur. Shyja today is an example of women empowerment. During the three years she was chairperson of the Kudumbashree Community Development Society (cds), the number of neighbourhood groups in her Pan-chayat rose from 108 to 152, Rs97 lakh were amassed in thrift and 142 nhgs were linked by the cds to banks. With support of the panchayat, 22 micro enterprises were set up in this little vil