It took nearly four-and-half years of intense micro-planning and effective implementation, coordinated by the local self-government department of the state government, to make this announcement
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will make an announcement in the state Assembly on Saturday, November 1, 2025, that the state lifted 64,006 families who were identified as extremely poor in 2021 shortly after his government took over. The southern state will become the first Indian state to declare itself as extreme poverty-free, 69 years after its formation on November 1, 1956.
It took nearly four-and-half years of intense micro-planning and effective implementation, coordinated by the local self-government department of the state government, to make this announcement. Several government departments and missions, as well as NGOs, were involved in the process of identification of the extremely poor based on four parameters of severe deprivation — nutritious food, safe housing, basic income and health status. The issues of each family were addressed by preparing and implementing a micro plan for their sustenance. They included regular supply of food from the community kitchens or food kits, healthcare service, palliative care, organ transplant, self-sustenance implements, construction and repair of houses and allotment of land. The programme which cost the government over Rs 1,000 crore helped 1,03,099 individuals.
It was not just planning and implementation, though, that helped the state achieve the great feat. The political will of the Left Democratic Front government which received an unprecedented mandate for a consecutive second term in the state in the last 50 years is reflected in this unique plan of action. Kerala tops India in most of the human development indices of the Niti Aayog but it still went after a section of people who would have otherwise gone unnoticed. The governments in other states and Union Territories may take the right cues from Kerala and implement similar processes for their peoples.
It may be remembered that the programme was implemented for the people identified in 2021 and hence the Kerala government cannot rest on the laurels; it needs to make it a continuous process so that anyone who falls by the wayside has a hand to hold.
