Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday declared that Kerala had become the first state to eliminate extreme poverty, a claim that the Opposition derided as “fraud” and a “public relations exercise” in view of upcoming local body polls.
Vijayan made the announcement in a special session of the Assembly convened on the occasion of Kerala’s formation day and later at a public event held at Central Stadium here in the evening.
Several news channels reported that ₹1.5 crore belonging to the local self-government department’s housing scheme for the extremely poor was used to organise the public event attended by Malayalam superstar Mammootty as the chief guest.
According to Vijayan, the decision to eradicate extreme poverty from the state was taken in the first cabinet of the second LDF government in 2021 and the beneficiaries were identified through an extensive participatory process. The Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project was implemented on a pilot basis in the Wadakkanchery Municipality and the Anchuthengu
and Thirunelli Gram Panchayats, and later extended throughout the state. As part of the project, micro plans were prepared for each of the 64,006 beneficiary families, he said.
“Kerala has spent more than ₹1,000 crore on extreme poverty eradication,” he added.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front boycotted the special Assembly session. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Vijayan’s statement was “pure fraud” and in “contempt” of House rules. “So, we cannot join in that and are completely boycotting the session,” Satheesan said. The Opposition then walked out of the House.
“This is nothing but a public relations exercise by the Left government ahead of
the polls. The state government has not held any discussions with the stakeholders, and it’s being done to hoodwink the people,” Satheesan told reporters.
Developmental economists M.A. Oommen and K.P. Kannan also brushed aside Vijayan’s claims, observing that the state government had not conducted any study to arrive at the conclusion.
At the mega public programme, Vijayan claimed that the eradication of extreme poverty from the state “was a reality and not a fraud”.
“This is a new beginning, and it’s a real Kerala Story. With the help of the society, Kerala has become the first state in the country to achieve the feat,” said Vijayan.
He said that the achievement had proved that if people stepped up and moved forward with a sense of purpose, nothing was impossible.