As the LDF government prepares to declare Kerala free from “extreme poverty” on November 1, economists, social scientists and activists in an open letter have asked the government to explain the basis of its claim and whether it actually meant “poor” by “extremely poor”.
Letter titled Extreme Poverty-free Kerala or Destitute-free Kerala? The government should publish a report identifying the extremely poor names among its signatories, educationist RVG Menon, economist MA Oommen, Center for Development Studies Honorary Fellow KP Kannan and former Additional Director General of the Central Statistical Organization G. Ravindran.
The letter asks the government to explain the parameters used to identify the 64,006 families considered “extremely poor”, information from the expert panel that conducted the survey and whether the State Statistics Office and the State Planning Board were consulted.
He further points out that Kerala has 5.9 lakh families holding Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards. Since the poorest families are included in the AAY scheme, the government should explain the reasons for identifying only 64,006 families as extremely poor. If the rest are no longer poor, won’t it make the AAY category obsolete in Kerala and end central assistance under this component, he asks.
The letter also said that the 2011 census found that Kerala had 4.85 lakh individuals in 1,160,000 tribal families experiencing extreme poverty.
The letter also raises the question of whether the government is actually talking about the poor when it says “extremely poor”. The government should publicize the status of the government’s ‘Ashraj’ programme, which was launched in 2002 to identify families in need and provide them with assistance. In addition, the letter also calls on the government to explain whether the current extreme poverty eradication program is a continuation of the Ashraya programme.
When the signatories ask the government for facts on the matter, they note that poverty is the biggest social and economic problem facing the nation. The letter states that this is nothing to be dealt with casually or used as promotional material.
Published – 30 Oct 2025 21:24 IST
