Vayalar Ravi to flag off yatra on importance of family

Janasree Sustainable Development Mission (JSDM), a flagship project billed as the "Congress party's bandwagon that works among women" in Kerala, is launching a statewide yatra to promote the importance of a happy family.

"We want to spread the message of the importance and significance of a happy family and what that brings to society at large," state Congress vice president M.M. Hassan told IANS.

The yatra is being flagged off at Alappuzha by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi on the occasion of JSDM's seventh anniversary celebrations on Sunday.

"It's quite simple that a happy family means a contented Kerala. That's our mantra for the statewide yatra, which will touch all the 14 districts of the state. It will finish at Palakkad on March 12," Hassan said.

JSDM is engaged in rural development of the economically weak and socially backward, with an aim to achieve integrated and sustainable development of Kerala.

"We will, right through the yatra, have experts speaking on the importance of a happy family and the benefits it will roll out to society," Hassan said.

JSDM has a beneficiary participation of 12.5 lakh people, and there are close to 16,000 ward-level groups which act as the means to connect with people.