‘Kerala has become extreme poverty free but not poverty free,’ says minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister M B Rajesh stepped forward with an explanation regarding the announcement of extreme poverty-free state. The minister said that this is a proud moment not only for the government but also for every local body.

'Noticed some criticisms and questions raised. Saw a statement admitting that Kerala has become extreme poverty-free and that the credit for it goes to the Modi government. They are not arguing about Kerala becoming extreme poverty-free. The dispute is on the credit. There is only one thing to say about it, that the entire country should be made extreme poverty-free and then take the credit for it.

As the chief minister said, Kerala achieving extreme poverty-free status is an achievement for India. But while claiming that we did all this, there are still 27 states to take credit. I humbly request to do the same in those states and take the credit.

Some questions from the side of experts were noticed. I was surprised seeing it. It was not announced one fine morning that Kerala has become poverty-free. This was the first decision taken in the first cabinet meeting of 2021. It was announced by the chief minister that very day. The government had issued a detailed guideline in this regard. If you had read it, you would not have asked a single question. This guideline has been available since 2021. Everything is explained in detail in it. The extremely poor are those who do not have basic elements such as food, health, clothing, safe shelter, and basic income. It has been divided into two categories. The very extremely poor and the extremely poor categories.

The extremely poor are those who do not have a ration card or Aadhaar. It seems that these experts are a little confused about the difference between extreme poverty and poverty. The government is not claiming to be poverty-free. The claim is that extreme poverty has been eradicated,' the minister said.