The celebration planned for November 1, 2025, to declare Kerala "extreme poverty-free" faces intense criticism not merely for the validity of its claims, but for what critics view as a fundamental moral contradiction — spending public resources on grandeur and publicity while leaving those workers instrumental in the government's welfare apparatus in extreme poverty.

The Core Ethical Problem: Inverted Priorities

The central issue from critics remains opportunity cost and moral coherence. While the government declares success in poverty eradication, several categories of workers who enabled this claim remain trapped in poverty themselves. This creates what social activists describe as a profound paradox: celebrating the elimination of poverty while leaving many who worked to achieve this

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