Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala became the first Indian state to declare itself free from extreme poverty on 1 November, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. At a special meeting of the Kerala Assembly held in honour of Kerala Piravi, the announcement was made.
Calling this year’s Kerala Piravi “the birth of a new era for Kerala,” Vijayan detailed the four-year-long process that led to the milestone. Refuting Opposition claims of political publicity ahead of local body polls, he said, “We only make promises we can fulfil and we have fulfilled what we promised.”
He claimed that one of the main decisions made at the first Cabinet meeting of the current Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in 2021 was the Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project (EPEP). Within two months, the project started identifying families that were extremely poor through public participation that included officials, volunteers, Kudumbashree workers and representatives of local bodies.
Based on important criteria like income, housing, food and health, 1,03,099 people from 64,006 families were classified as extremely poor in an initial survey. For every family, micro plans were created.
According to Vijayan, 20,648 families now receive a regular food supply through Kudumbashree and 21,263 people received essential documents. Under the LIFE Mission, 2,713 families received both land and houses and 4,677 families received houses. Over 35,000 families were covered by MGNREGS and 4,394 families received livelihood support.
Highlighting Kerala’s progress, he said, “Kerala has made remarkable progress in the Sustainable Development Index envisioned by the United Nations by eradicating extreme poverty. Our State is a laboratory for many welfare activities… This proud achievement belongs to the entire people of Kerala. We are witnessing a historic moment.”
The Chief Minister emphasised the necessity of regular monitoring to make sure that no family falls back into extreme poverty, claiming that the government had spent more than Rs1,000 crore on project implementation.