Kerala formally announced a historic milestone today on Kerala Piravi Day . It has successfully eradicated extreme poverty. With this, the state has become the first state in India to officially declare itself free from extreme poverty.

The declaration follows the success of the state government’s Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP), launched in 2021. The initiative sought to lift families living in severe deprivation out of extreme poverty.

These were people who, regardless of existing welfare programs, were still excluded due to missing documents or other barriers. Kerala’s approach combined detailed surveys of the population.

Roadmap to the milestone

Extreme poverty, according to the World Bank, means living on less than Rs 180 per person per day. Kerala, however, uses a

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