On November 1, 2025, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front government announced that it had eliminated extreme poverty in the state. According to the government, the Extreme Poverty Alleviation Programme (EPAP), launched in 2021, has been instrumental in identifying and supporting extremely poor families, with over Rs 1,000 crore spent on the initiative. The announcement has drawn significant media attention, with opposition leaders, social activists and economists questioning the credibility of the claim.When seen from a deontological ethical lens, adherence to moral rules or duties – rather than outcomes or consequences – becomes the yardstick against which the morality of an action is judged. From this perspective, the Kerala government’s leadership and commitment to eliminating extreme poverty are commendable, and whether the goal has actually been achieved becomes less important. Still, it is worth examining how this process was carried out and what its implications are.Identification of ‘extreme poor’The extreme poverty eradication drive began within two months of the goal’s announcement in 2021. It started with the identification of poor households through an intensive participatory nomination process at the Ward and Division levels. Around 1,18,309 households were initially nominated, which was reduced to 87,158 following recommendations from Local Self-Government (LSG) committees. After a detailed verification, a priority list of 73,747 households was prepared and later reviewed by the Grama Sabhas, resulting in a final list of 64,006 extremely poor households. The main deprivation categories included households without any means to cook food, those suffering from serious health conditions, families without a dwelling place, and several special criteria for members of scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, coastal residents and the urban poor.Process of implementationThe identification and implementation process was carried out in a decentralised manner, led by local governments and supported by networks of community extension workers such as ASHA and Anganwadi workers, Kudumbashree members, activist organisations and residential associations. In addition to deprivation based on the four key indicators, 4,557 poor families lacked essential entitlement documents such as ration cards, Aadhaar cards or electoral IDs.To address these deprivations, sub-plans comprising several micro plans were developed to tackle the specific needs of each poor family. Multiple government departments were involved in the effort, including Health, Civil Supplies, Higher Education, Women and Child Development and the Kudumbashree State Mission. The range of assistance provided included food kits and cooked meals, medical treatment and medication, palliative care, healthcare equipment, organ transplants, land and housing under the LIFE Mission, shelter homes for single-member families, support for income-generating activities, enrolment in MGNREGS and free travel and scholarships for students.Several other departments, including the Revenue Department, Akshaya Centres and the Co-operative Department, also joined the effort, extending support by providing electoral cards, Aadhaar cards, and grants and loans respectively. Although the micro plans were prepared using LSG resources, the state government provided additional backing by allocating Rs 50 crore as the first instalment during 2023–24.Also read: ‘If Kerala Wants More Funds it Should Declare That it is Backward’: Union Minister George KurianThe entire exercise reflects institutional integration, participatory planning and decentralised governance, underscoring shared values and collective commitment. The resolve to eliminate extreme poverty is undoubtedly praiseworthy, especially given the financial constraints faced by the government. According to K.N. Balagopal, the State Finance Minister, the Union government has deprived Kerala of Rs 50,000 crore over the past four years in what he described as an attempt to financially strangulate the state.Concerns over claimNonetheless, a section of social activists and left-leaning intellectuals have raised several questions. In an open petition to the government, the intellectuals have asked about the scientific nature of the methodology behind the exercise, particularly the criteria for defining the ‘extremely poor’ and its distinctiveness from the other ‘most poor’ and ‘destitute’ category of people.For instance, they point out that it is not clear how the government claims that there are only 64,004 extremely poor households in Kerala when about 5.92 lakh ‘most poor’ households are beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana and been receiving free supply of food grains since 2023. Similarly, the criteria used by the Government to categorise the ‘extremely poor’ overlaps with ‘destitutes’ (or ‘Agathikal’ in Malayalam) who have been covered under Project Ashraya since 2002, raising doubts about the exercise being a revised version of the project. The open letter also brought to the fore the woes of the ASHA workers who have been on strike for more than 266 days fighting for decent wages. It is ironical that the same workers have been involved in the identification of the poor and the implementation of this programme.The petition has sparked a wider public debate and also drawn a response from the government. However, given the variations across local governance institutions, it is possible that some degree of subjectivity may have influenced the exercise despite existing checks and balances. It also remains unclear how the process of narrowing down the initial 1,18,309 nominated households to the final 64,004 was carried out. The fact that the tribal population – the most marginalised group in the State – accounts for only 3,021 households (out of 1.19 lakh Scheduled Tribe households, as per the 2011 census) warrants further explanation.Power in discoursesAs Michel Foucault observed, “Each society has its regime of truth, its ‘general politics’ of truth: that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes function as true.” Knowledge, he argued, is not a collection of objective truths but is produced within systems of power that determine who can know, what counts as knowledge, and how knowledge is legitimised through institutional authority. In other words, Foucault cautioned against the abuse of power in the construction of knowledge and how knowledge itself reinforces power.The state government could have been more transparent about its survey methodology and provided stronger empirical evidence to support its claim. An independent social audit would also have added greater credibility. The government must ensure that its achievements in poverty reduction are not undermined by a lack of transparency and accountability.Despite these shortcomings, Kerala’s significant progress in reducing poverty cannot be overlooked. According to the NITI Aayog progress review report (2023) on multidimensional poverty, based on NFHS-5 survey data, only 0.55 percent of Kerala’s population is multi-dimensionally poor – the lowest in the country. The State has recorded low deprivation levels across multiple dimensions, including nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, school attendance, housing, basic amenities, assets and bank accounts.Given Kerala’s commendable progress in reducing multidimensional poverty and its continued efforts through the multiple indicators used in the EPAP, there should be little doubt about the LDF government’s commitment to eradicating extreme poverty from the State. Moving forward, it is equally important that the government ensures the sustainability of its poverty reduction achievements by preventing those lifted out of poverty from relapsing and by addressing the factors that could lead to new cases of extreme poverty.Divya Pradeep is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Christ University, Bangalore.