Thiruvananthapuram: The Pinarayi Vijayan government is set to declare Kerala as an 'extreme poverty free' state today. Many economists and social activists have raised objections to the methodology used for such a declaration and the reliability of the data.
In this regard, 24 people including social activist RVG Menon, economists MA Umman and KP Kannan, and former TNIE editor MK Das have signed an open letter to the state government. They have demanded that the government release an official study report on the validation of the poverty eradication process and identification of the extremely poor.
The government is making the declaration on the basis of a public-participatory survey that identified 64,006 extremely poor households, and they have said that there is no transparency about how the data was collected and what criteria were applied.
The survey, conducted since July 2021, categorizes the poor as extremely poor based on food security, safe shelter, basic income and health status.
However, experts have questioned the authenticity of the survey and demanded that the expert panel that conducted it be informed. This has highlighted the inconsistencies between the official data and the government’s statement.
According to the Kerala Economic Survey 2024, there are 5.92 lakh families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) of the National Food Security Act 2013. These families currently receive free rice and wheat from the state government. The Centre provides grains at subsidized rates.
If Kerala has only 64,006 extremely poor families, is there no poor family under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)? Will the central assistance under this scheme also end?" the experts mentioned in the letter.
It has been questioned whether the previously identified destitute families under the Ashraya scheme, which was launched in 2002 to provide assistance to the most vulnerable families, are being referred to as the extreme poor.
The extreme poverty rate in the country has reduced to the lowest level! The experts demanded in the letter that it should be clarified whether the current program is a continuation of the Ashraya scheme or a new version.