Kerala: Economists, activists question govt claims of eradicating extreme poverty

Thiruvananthapuram: As the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala is all set to declare the state as extreme-poverty free, a section of social scientists have questioned the credentials of the claim.

An open letter signed by 20 economists and social activists has questioned the credibility of the process in which the state government identified the 64,006 families as extremely poor and the parameters used for declaring that there are no families in extreme poor category.

Social scientist and academician R V G Menon and economist K P Kannan are among the 20 odd persons who signed the open letter.

The group urged the Kerala government to revel details about the study, which was used to identify the extremely poor families. They also asked whether the 1.16 lakh tribal families in the state as well as the 5.92 lakh persons under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana are out of extreme poverty.

"What is the credible record to prove that extreme poverty has been eradicated? Which was the agency that collected the data for the extreme poverty eradication project? If only 64,006 are officially found to be in extreme poor condition, families receiving benefits of various government schemes for those in extreme poor condition may get eliminated," the letter said.  

The Pinarayi Vijayan government is declaring Kerala as the first extreme poverty free state in the country on Saturday, November 1, which is the state formation day. A special session of the assembly has been convened and a mega event with the participation of celebrities like Mohanlal and Mammootty is on the cards.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan said that as per the Left Democratic Front's election manifesto there were 4.5 lakh in extreme poor condition. Now the government claims that there were only 64,006. This itself exposes the government's gimmicks, he said.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that it was central schemes that brought people out of poverty. 

Politically motivated, says minster

Meanwhile, local self government minister M B Rajesh said that the criticism that was coming up at the time of the declaration could be seen only as politically motivated. The state government identified the families in extremely poor condition through a transparent process, he said.

Families that  lacked adequate income, food, health care and shelter were identified as extremely poor and they were included in the government's welfare schemes with the support of multiple government agencies. Social Audit Society Kerala constituted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme has been evaluating the implementation of the project as an independent agency.