{"id":1374,"date":"2025-10-30T04:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:27:43","slug":"kerala-declares-itself-extreme-poverty-free-but-protests-tell-another-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2025\/10\/30\/kerala-declares-itself-extreme-poverty-free-but-protests-tell-another-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Kerala Declares Itself \u2018Extreme Poverty-Free\u2019 &#8211; But Protests Tell Another Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<h2 data-start=\"101\" data-end=\"560\"><em>As Kerala gears up to declare itself the first Indian state to eliminate extreme poverty, voices from its streets, coastal regions, and tribal belts paint a more complex picture of progress and pain. <\/em><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"101\" data-end=\"560\">On November 1 \u2014 Kerala\u2019s formation day \u2014 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, joined by iconic film stars Mammootty, Mohanlal, and Kamal Haasan, will officially announce the state\u2019s \u201cextreme poverty-free\u201d status in a grand public ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"562\" data-end=\"590\"><strong>A Landmark Declaration<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"592\" data-end=\"974\">The announcement marks the culmination of the <em data-start=\"638\" data-end=\"677\">Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme<\/em> launched by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in 2021. According to the state, this initiative identified 64,006 households across Kerala that were living without access to basic needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, or livelihood \u2014 the four criteria used to define extreme poverty.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"976\" data-end=\"1452\">Following a detailed verification process, officials reported that 4,421 families were found deceased, 261 were untraceable, and 59,277 households were rehabilitated by linking them to government welfare schemes, housing projects, or livelihood initiatives.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"976\" data-end=\"1452\">Local Self-Government Minister M. B. Rajesh hailed this as a \u201chistoric milestone,\u201d stating that Kerala\u2019s decentralized governance model and political commitment had made the eradication of extreme poverty possible.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1454\" data-end=\"1670\">\u201cKerala has shown that with collective effort and political will, no one needs to sleep hungry or homeless,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery identified family has been connected to welfare measures ensuring dignity and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1672\" data-end=\"1700\"><strong>Dissent on the Streets<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1702\" data-end=\"1991\">However, as the state celebrates, dissent simmers just outside the Secretariat. For over six months, thousands of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers \u2014 the same women who played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 have been protesting for fair pay and recognition.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1993\" data-end=\"2452\">These community health workers, most from low-income households, are demanding a daily wage of \u20b9750, social security benefits, and permanent employment status. \u201c<em>We handle vaccination drives, disease surveillance, maternal care, and health counselling, yet we earn less than a daily-wage labourer<\/em>,\u201d said one protester. Despite their relentless strike, government officials have stated that the ongoing protest will not overshadow the November 1 celebrations.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2454\" data-end=\"2482\"><strong>Gaps in the Grassroots<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2484\" data-end=\"2945\">Beyond the capital\u2019s celebrations, large pockets of inequality still exist in Kerala\u2019s interiors. In Wayanad \u2014 home to nearly <strong>152,000 of the state\u2019s 426,000 tribal people<\/strong> \u2014 poverty and landlessness remain widespread. According to the Kerala Scheduled Tribes Development Department, more than 85% of tribal families across Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki, and Kannur remain without land ownership, often surviving on the fringes of forest land and low-paying labour.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2947\" data-end=\"3195\">While Kerala\u2019s social indicators remain impressive \u2014 with the NITI Aayog\u2019s Multidimensional Poverty Index pegging poverty at just<strong> 0.55%, far below the national average of 15%<\/strong> \u2014 these numbers mask persistent inequalities and localized deprivation.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"3197\" data-end=\"3237\"><strong>The Reality Behind the Celebration<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3239\" data-end=\"3495\">Kerala\u2019s journey towards social justice and economic inclusion has long been admired nationwide. Yet, even as the state prepares to mark a historic milestone, its streets echo with the demands of workers and marginalized communities who feel left behind.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3497\" data-end=\"3711\">When the lights dim and the music fades after November 1, Kerala will remain what it has always been \u2014 a state of remarkable progress and deep contradictions, where achievements coexist with unfulfilled promises.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Kerala gears up to declare itself the first Indian state to eliminate extreme poverty, voices from its streets, coastal regions, and tribal belts paint&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[727,733,726,728,734,729,725,732,731,730],"class_list":["post-1374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-asha-workers-protest-kerala","tag-kerala-development-model","tag-kerala-extreme-poverty-eradication","tag-kerala-formation-day-2025","tag-kerala-inequality-issues","tag-kerala-poverty-statistics","tag-kerala-poverty-free-declaration","tag-ldf-government-welfare-schemes","tag-pinarayi-vijayan-kerala-news","tag-tribal-poverty-wayanad","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}