Kudumbashree mainly takes part in in self-help credit and income generation initiatives for the poor.

At present, Kudumbashree has about 3.6 million women as its members.

For the tourism-entrepreneurship project, groups have been formed with some of the Kudumbashree members. They have been trained to collect and distribute several food items and vegetables to local hotels as per their need.

A committee has been formed for fixing the prices of these products, Kudumbashree Public Relations Officer R Parvathi Devi said.

Image: A houseboat is anchored beside a church in the backwaters of Alappuzha, 150 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala. | Photograph: Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images.