The Kerala government’s claim that the state is now free of extreme poverty is a rhetorical exercise as part of propaganda, said Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, MLA.
He was addressing a press conference at the KPCC headquarters here on Saturday after a meeting of its officials and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents.
With the declaration, the state government is denying their rights to people belonging to the extremely poor category. The government spent ₹10 crore on the Extreme Poverty Free Kerala campaign, including in other language media. The government used this as an opportunity for an election campaign. According to the census, there are 4.85 lakh tribal families in various parts of the state, while according to government estimates, there are 6,400 extremely poor tribal families.
In the recent past, many cases have been reported of people who have no place to lay their heads and have nothing to eat. There are also people who qualify for Life Mission homes but are still not receiving benefits. The government should clarify its figures. It’s just a rhetorical exercise as part of propaganda, he said.
Mr. Joseph also said that a meeting of KPCC officials and DCC presidents reviewed the preparations for the local body elections and the meeting also agreed on speedy distribution of seats among the coalition partners and nomination of candidates. He also said that the United Democratic Front (UDF) has a good chance of winning the upcoming polls.
Published – 01 Nov 2025 20:52 IST
