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Kerala Extreme Poverty Free State: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan formally declared the state free from extreme poverty today (November 1) in the assembly. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government claims that Kerala is the first state in India to achieve this. The Pinarayi government launched the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPAP) in 2021 to eradicate extreme poverty in the state. 64,006 families were identified under this initiative. The government claims that these families have been lifted out of extreme poverty in four years. On 25 October, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the state had become free of extreme poverty. He had said that he would make the announcement today in a special session of the Legislative Assembly on November 1, on the occasion of Kerala Piravi or Foundation Day. The Chief Minister said that with an investment of over Rs 1000 crore, the state government has provided essential documents like food, healthcare, housing, ration card, Aadhaar card, pension and employment opportunities to the families suffering from extreme poverty.
The opposition boycotted the House
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) termed the Pinarayi government’s claims as bogus. The opposition boycotted the special session on Saturday in protest against the government. As soon as the special session of the Legislative Assembly began, all the opposition MLAs walked out of the House. Leader of Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly V.D. Satisan said the Chief Minister’s statement under Rule 300 was false and against the rules of the House. Responding to the opposition’s allegations, the Chief Minister said, “We only speak what we can implement. We have implemented what we have said. This is our reply to the Leader of the Opposition.”
Very poor people have a daily income of less than 257
According to the World Bank’s June 2025 definition, people whose income is less than US$3 (approximately ₹257) are considered extremely poor. Earlier, this limit was $2.15 (approximately ₹178) per day. According to the World Bank’s 2025 report, an estimated 269 million people in India have been lifted out of extreme poverty in the last 11 years. The country’s extreme poverty rate is projected to come down to just 5.3% by 2022-23 from 27.1% in 2011-12. While 344.47 million people were living in extreme poverty in 2011-12, this number will decrease to 752.4 million by 2022-23. The extreme poverty rate in rural India has come down from 18.4% to 2.8% and in urban areas it has come down from 10.7% to just 1.1%.
The journey out of extreme poverty began in 2021
According to the Kerala government, the state’s journey out of extreme poverty began in 2021. The government identified food, income, health and shelter as the basis for this initiative, naming it “human dignity”. Social organizations were involved. The state government deployed a team of 1,300 surveyors in 14 districts. They were tasked with identifying families in need of food, health, income and shelter. Participant nominations were taken from wards/sections, shortlisting by sub-committees, interviews conducted using mobile app and final verification by gram sabhas.
The teams identified 103,099 such persons through gram sabha and focus group discussions. 81% lived in rural areas, 68% lived alone, 24% had health problems, 21% lacked food and 15% lacked shelter.
Social audit started with strict monitoring. 73,000 micro schemes were developed in Kerala. Starting with 978 micro schemes in Kottayam district, people were provided assistance according to their needs and strictly monitored. Every penny and donation was accounted for.
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