Kozhikode, Oct 19: On November 14, when India celebrates children’s day, a new mahila mall (women’s mall) will be launched in Kerala’s Kozhikode. Considered to be the first-of-its-kind in south India, the mall is located in front of Fathima hospital.
Entirely and exclusively for women, the project was started by Kozhikode Corporation’s Kudumbashree unit with the support of state and district Kudumbashree missions and Unity group. Kudumbashree Mission, National Urban Livelihood Mission and the corporation's unit together pooled in over Rs 3 crore for the project.
A 10-member women committee, formed under the community development societies of corporation's Kudumbashree, will manage the mall. Arrangements to put up stalls inside the five-story building is currently underway.
The mall with an area of 36,000 sq ft will come up on 54 cents of private land that has been leased for a period of five years. The mall will have a spacious parking lot and women taxi services. Four She Cabs will be available for women during working hours.
Around 79 stalls, set up by women entrepreneurs, will occupy the first three floors. A micro bazar will be set up in the basement with 24 Kudumbashree units putting up their stalls for sale.
"The mall will provide a different shopping experiences to people as it will cater to the needs of all types of consumers. The mall will provide 250 direct and 500 indirect employment opportunities to women," said M V RamsiIsmail, project officer of corporation's Kudumbashree.
All kinds of enterprises
The mall will house all kinds of enterprises such as supermarket, food court, kids park, spa, beauty parlour, women’s bank, fancy stores, textiles and ready-mades, boutiques, footwear, dry cleaning, car washing, opticals, handicrafts, baby care, home appliances and book stall. Besides, there will be conference rooms, training centres and underground car parking facility.
The Kudumbasree Bazaar, which will be a permanent outlet for Kudumbasree products, will be set up on the premises of the mall in the second phase. At present, the Kudumbasree members get to sell their products only at the fairs organised during festival seasons. Once the season is over, these products are not available anywhere. The Kudumbasree Bazaar will ensure that these products are available for the needy round the year. The mission plans to set up bazaars in all districts.
The booking for the shops in the mall, which is under construction, has already started. Kudumbasree members will be offered a 10% discount in rent and need to pay only six months’ rent in advance while others need to pay 10 months’ rent.
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