A Kerala story: On eradication of extreme poverty

Kerala, known for its exemplary record in social and human development, and for healthcare systems comparable to those of developed nations, achieved another milestone on its 69th formation day, on November 1 — the eradication of extreme poverty. This resulted from a four-year, meticulously planned programme involving a gamut of agencies,  spearheaded by the local self-government department, alongside extensive community participation. It was during the first Cabinet meeting of the second LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan in May 2021 that the Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP) was launched. Successive State governments deserve credit for Kerala’s people-centric development and decentralised planning, which ensured that poverty reduced from 59.8% in 1973–74 to 11.3% in 2011–12. NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index (2023) stated that Kerala was the least impoverished State, based on the headcount ratio. Just 0.55% of Kerala’s population was multidimensionally poor — far below the national average of 14.96%. Instead of relying on self-enrolment, the government deployed nearly 4 lakh trained enumerators, supported by a robust local body system and Kudumbashree workers, to identify the abjectly poor. After several levels of vetting, 64,006 extremely poor families — comprising 1,03,099 individuals, many lacking basic documents — were identified based on the four-point criteria of access to food, health, means of livelihood, and housing. A uniform solution was inadequate for such diverse needs, necessitating an experiment in welfare governance: the preparation of custom-made micro plans for each identified family and the provision of essential support such as identification documents, housing, livelihoods, regular medicine, cooked meals, palliative care and, in some cases, organ transplants.

Combating poverty is a never-ending task and criticism of the claim of erasing extreme poverty — particularly regarding the plight of the tribal population — is inescapable. The State government has launched EPEP 2.0 to prevent relapse and to ensure that no new household falls into extreme poverty. The LDF has pledged to tackle all forms of poverty in mission mode. Critics of the ‘Kerala Model’ have often cited stagnant growth and rising unemployment as evidence of its perceived failure. The State has accelerated major infrastructure projects and high-tech green industries to bridge the deficit in these areas. It has also been skilling the educated to alleviate joblessness. The EPEP shows that progressive governance can be rooted in welfarism and growth simultaneously, without compromising social safety or sustainability. The largely community-driven model may not be flawless, but it is self-evolving and strengthens democracy at the grassroots. It presents an alternative development paradigm — a Kerala story worth propagating.