Kerala’s extreme poverty-free status a realisation of the basic ideal of economic equality: Pinarayi Vijayan

The declaration of Kerala as a State free from extreme poverty is the beginning of a social mechanism which will ensure a security net for anyone who is pushed into poverty or crisis, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said after making the official declaration at a public function at the Central Stadium in the capital on Saturday.

“We can now say with confidence that the government’s aim of improving the living standards of Kerala on par with developed countries is not impossible. This is not just an achievement of the government, but of the people who unitedly faced all crises and of the lakhs of volunteers and officials who went from house to house to ensure the basic needs for everyone. This is not a mere welfare project nor is it a charity, but the realisation of the basic ideal of economic equality enshrined in the Indian Constitution,” said Mr. Vijayan.

He laid out the timeline of the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP) from the decision to implement it in the first Cabinet meeting of the current Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in May 2021 to the identification of beneficiaries through a participatory, grass-root level process, the preparation of microplans for each of the 64,006 families and to the Cabinet meeting last week when a technical issue related to the one remaining family was addressed, leading to the completion of the project.

“I mentioned this experience just to make everyone understand the declaration is not a fraud, but a reality. It is unfortunate that such remarks were made about the project. Everyone cooperated and contributed to the success of the project,” said Mr. Vijayan.

Actor Mammootty, the chief guest, who was making his first public appearance after a gap of eight months following a break from acting to undergo medical treatment, said that the achievement of being extreme poverty-free is the result of the social and democratic awareness of our people.

“The world has often looked at our social indicators. Our populace has unitedly overcome many adversities. The mutual trust and love visible here is our wealth. After addressing extreme poverty, we need to address poverty too. When we talk about development, we need to realise that building highways and huge buildings alone will not lead to development. For that, poverty has to be eliminated. I hope that this governance system will be able to achieve it,” he said.

Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh, who presided over the function, said that the government did not wait for development to trickle down to everyone, but went across the State to identify the poorest of the poor without even the basic documents to access welfare mechanisms. Micro Plans were prepared for each family based on their needs for the first time in the country, he said.

Mr. Vijayan released a report on the EPEP project by handing over the first copy to Mr. Mammootty.

Ministers and MLAs of the ruling front were present in the packed stadium. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan chose to stay away although he was invited for the event.