Kerala is poised to officially announce itself as the first Indian state to have eradicated extreme poverty. This landmark declaration marks the culmination of the state’s ambitious Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP), launched in 2021.
The declaration is expected on November 1, the anniversary of Kerala becoming a state.
A Business Standard report quoted M B Rajesh, Kerala’s Minister for Local Self-Governments, as saying that 93 percent of the 64,006 families identified as extremely poor under the programme had already been uplifted.
“The Athidaridrya Nirmarjana Project, or EPEP, was launched to support those left outside the traditional government safety net. In the first phase, we focused on identifying the most deprived. We finalised 64,006 families and designed a comprehensive action plan for each,” the minister told the paper.
According to NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023, Kerala ranks first among Indian states with the lowest poverty headcount ratio—just 0.55 percent. Goa (0.84 percent), Tamil Nadu (2.20 percent), Sikkim (2.60 percent), and Punjab (4.75 percent) follow closely behind.
Kerala’s EPEP distinguishes itself through the adoption of the MPI framework, which considers dimensions such as food, shelter, health, and income—critical for sustainable improvement in quality of life.
“Rather than relying on broad assumptions, we took targeted action to identify and assist each family. We ensured active coordination between departments—from health to electricity—to provide holistic support,” Rajesh said.
Funding for EPEP has come not only from government allocations but also through corporate social responsibility contributions and land donation campaigns.
However, experts caution that such a claim depends heavily on the definition of 'extreme poverty'.
N C Saxena, former secretary of the Union Rural Development Ministry and a member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, said, “Kerala does have a very low poverty rate, according to central data. But whether ‘extreme poverty’ has been eradicated depends on the benchmark used. The chosen metric can significantly shape such conclusions.”
Still, Kerala’s data-driven, community-led model is being seen as a potential blueprint for targeted poverty alleviation in other states.
