Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared on Saturday that the state has eradicated extreme poverty, positioning it as the first in India to achieve this milestone. The announcement, made during a special session of the state assembly marking the anniversary of Kerala's formation day, highlighted the success of the government's Extreme Poverty Alleviation Project launched in 2021. Vijayan, leading the Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration, emphasised that comprehensive interventions have lifted all identified vulnerable families out of destitution, fulfilling a key electoral promise. This claim underscores Kerala's long-standing reputation for progressive social policies, which have consistently ranked it among India's leaders in human development indices.

The initiative targeted 64,006 families—comprising 103,099 individuals—identified through rigorous ground-level surveys as extremely poor, based on criteria including access to food, healthcare, housing, and livelihoods. Drawing from a 2021 NITI Aayog study that pegged Kerala's overall poverty rate at a national low of 0.7%, the four-year programme provided tailored support such as skill training, financial aid, and infrastructure improvements.

Local Self-Government Minister M.B. Rajesh, speaking at a press conference earlier, credited the project's success to decentralised implementation involving panchayats and community participation. He noted that while the number of affected families was small compared to other states, the focused approach ensured no one was left behind, aligning with Kerala's model of inclusive welfare.

The declaration, however, sparked immediate controversy in the assembly, with the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dismissing it as "pure fraud" and staging a walkout. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused Vijayan of making unsubstantiated claims in "contempt" of House rules, arguing that the announcement lacked independent verification and ignored persistent issues like unemployment and migration. The UDF's boycott reflected broader political tensions in Kerala, where the LDF has governed since 2016 but faces criticism over economic slowdowns post-pandemic. Independent experts have welcomed the move but urged third-party audits to validate the data, citing similar past claims in other states that faced scrutiny.

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In response, Vijayan rebuffed the opposition's allegations, quipping that their use of "fraud" was a self-referential admission of past governance failures. "We only say what we can implement. We have implemented what we had said," he asserted, framing the achievement as a testament to the LDF's commitment to equitable growth. As Kerala navigates upcoming local elections, this proclamation could bolster the ruling coalition's narrative of social justice while intensifying debates on poverty metrics in a nation where over 5% of the population still lives below the extreme poverty line, according to World Bank estimates. The government's next steps may include scaling similar models nationally, potentially influencing India's broader Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

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