THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mathipuram, the fishermen colony in the suburbs of the district, witnessed a unique painting competition the other day. Children here gave colours and shapes to their dream homes at a competition held by Kudumbashree, on the subject 'ente veedu' and 'ente chuttupad'. The idea was to explore the children's concept of their homes. Mathipuram has been chosen for the pilot project of Rajiv Awas Yojana, that aims to wipe out urban slums in the country. The colony is the first project submitted by Kerala under the scheme. Kudumbashree is the State-level nodal agency for the implementation of the RAY project in Kerala. It is as part of community interaction to garner ideas from children in the colony about their home under the RAY that the competition was held at the MALP School in Harbour Ward of Vizhinjam. As many as 350 students of class III and IV turned up for the competition. A group discussion was arranged for other children to gather their views on their houses. Kudumbashree Executive Director Sarada Muraledharan visited the school and addressed the children on the importance of healthy habitation, the role of children in slum development programmes and distributed prizes for the winners of the group discussion. She also made a visit to the slums for assessing the conditions prevailing at the Mathipuram colony. Mayor K Chandrika addressed the children and distributed the prizes to the winners of the competition. Karthikeyan, Programme Officer, Kudumbashree, K H Sudheer Khan, ward councillor, M M Usufkhan, secretary, Juma-at, and Shahul Hameed, treasurer of Juma-at, were also present. The Corporation selected four localities in Vizhinjam ward, Mathippuram, Pattani, Valiyaparambu and Kappachal, to be developed as one colony, Mathipuram. The pilot project was prepared with the help of Kudumbashree and has been entrusted to COSTFORD, the consultant for preparing the DPR. The proposal covers constructing 1,033 new houses and a community hall with 1,000 seats capacity.
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