Poverty is fateful irrespective of wherever it emerges. The first and foremost duty of any elected government would be to ramp up measures to eradicate such a disastrous situation. If the government succeeds, a laurel of excellence will be bestowed, since it is no feeble work. During the opening ceremony of the week-long festival ‘Keraleeyam’, CM Pinarayi Vijayan proudly announced the government's success in eradicating extreme poverty partially from the state.

The Chief Minister's announcement was that out of the estimated 64,006 extremely poor families in the state, 30,658 families have been freed from this plight. This success achieved in the first phase of the Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project is certainly a matter of pride for the Local Self-Government Department and the State Government.

Kerala is the first state in the country to prepare and implement a comprehensive plan for the eradication of extreme poverty. Taking count of people living in extreme poverty was a challenge nonetheless. When this enumeration conducted by local bodies was completed in January 2022, it was found that 1,03,099 people live in the extremely poor category in 64,006 families across Kerala.

This forced the state government to devise a special plan, not only to free such people from the chains of poverty but also to improve their lifestyle. The local self-government department has already started the move. When the first phase of the project was completed on November 1, 2023, the target was to move 40 per cent from extreme poverty, but now the success achieved is 47.89 per cent. The government has assured that when the project ends in 2025, the mission will successfully wipe out extreme poverty in the state. Considering the fast pace and efficiency of the project, it won’t be any wonder if the government achieves its target by 2025.

The aim behind the move is not just to simply remove hunger from these sections. Preparation of micro-plans and sub-plans, provision of timely medicines and treatment facilities, implementation of health insurance scheme, social security pension and other comprehensive improvement works are part of the project.

The goal is to achieve 90 per cent eradication of extreme poverty by the time the Chief Minister announces the completion of the next phase of the Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project on November 1. Districts like Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad, which are often lagging behind in terms of development due to their geographical features, have a higher number of people from the extremely poor. Malappuram tops the list for having the most extreme poverty families. According to calculations, 8553 people in Malappuram and 7278 people in Thiruvananthapuram district are extremely poor!

Despite the progress Kerala made in all domains, it is rather shameful to see the state still suffering from extreme poverty. We wish the successful completion of the poverty alleviation project under the leadership of the Local Self-Government Department. With this, Kerala will have its name etched for being the first state to do so in India.