Extreme poverty free Kerala
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has declared Kerala as the first state in India to be free from extreme poverty on the State Formation Day. The financial inflow from the Gulf countries and the welfare work of the governments from time to time have raised the standard of living of our state. Even then, a small section of people used to live in extreme poverty due to various socio-economic reasons. They have been identified and freed from extreme poverty by raising their standard of living. With this, Kerala has become the first state in India to fully achieve the United Nations' first and second Sustainable Development Goals of poverty eradication and freedom from hunger, which is a matter of joy.
The government launched the Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP) in 2021. Out of 64,006 families identified as extremely poor through the survey, 4,445 people died in five years. 231 families who were wandering around could not be traced. 47 nomads who were listed in more than one local body were kept in one place. Including these, 4,723 families were temporarily removed from the list. The remaining 59,283 families were made free from extreme poverty. Kerala had already achieved the distinction of being the first state to achieve 100 percent literacy. An even more important achievement is becoming a state where people do not suffer from hunger. The biggest criterion for the development of a country is generally considered to be the high level of its infrastructure. However, all families living above the poverty line is the criterion that should become the hallmark of the development of a country. This is the humanistic side of economics.
The achievement of the LDF government in Kerala is also a victory for the ideals upheld by them for the working class. This achievement was accomplished through several activities carried out by various departments of the government, by coordinating with each other. Among these, the many schemes and assistance of the local self-government department should be specially mentioned. At the same time, the opposition criticizes the government's announcement that the state is free from extreme poverty as incorrect. They allege that the government has not disclosed the criteria used to estimate extreme poverty and that there are flaws in the method. The opposition can also find out if there are still extreme poor people in each panchayat through its workers and report it to the government. Anyone can find faults and shortcomings in any project. However, the most important thing is to start a project and move forward with it.
The number of people who could be called rich in the villages was very low in the fifties and sixties. Why, even tiled-roof houses were few. This is not the case today. The entire state of Kerala has become almost like a city. This is the result of Malayalis going to foreign countries, including the Gulf, and sweating it out. Now people are coming to Kerala from other states in search of jobs. This is the biggest sign that Kerala has made progress. Kerala now needs to grow towards great leaps in the field of technology.