Eradication of extreme poverty: economists, social scientists urge govt to explain the basis of its claim

As the LDF government prepares to declare Kerala free of ‘extreme poverty’ on November 1, economists, social scientists and activists have in an open letter asked the government to explain the basis of its claim and whether, in actuality, it meant ‘destitutes’ by the usage ‘extremely poor.’

The letter titled Extreme poverty-free Kerala or Destitute-free Kerala? The government should publish the report identifying the extremely poor names among its signatories educationist R.V.G. Menon, economist M.A. Oommen, honorary fellow of the Centre for Development Studies K.P. Kannan and former Additional Director General of the Central Statistical Organisation G. Ravindran.

The letter asks the government to explain the parameters used to identify the 64,006 families deemed ‘extremely poor,’ information on the expert panel that led the survey, and whether the State Statistical Office and the State Planning Board have been consulted.

Further, it points out that Kerala has 5.9 lakh families holding the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards. Since the poorest families are covered under the AAY scheme, the government should explain the rationale for identifying only 64,006 families as extremely poor. If the rest are no longer poor, wouldn’t it render the AAY category obsolete in Kerala, ending the Central assistance under this component, it asks.

The letter also notes that the 2011 Census had found that Kerala had 4.85 lakh individuals in 1.16 lakh tribal families who experienced extreme poverty.

The letter also raises the question whether the government is, in fact, referring to destitutes when it says ‘extremely poor.’ The government should disclose the status of the ‘Ashraya’ government scheme launched in 2002 to identify destitute families and provide assistance to them. Furthermore, the letter also urges the government to explain whether the present extreme poverty eradication programme is a continuation of the Ashraya scheme.

In requesting the government for the facts of the matter, the signatories observe that poverty constitutes the biggest social and economic problem faced by the nation. As such, it is not something that can be dealt with casually or used as publicity material, the letter says.