When enumerators went through a survey earlier this year to identify extremely poor families in Kerala as part of the government’s program to reduce poverty, they found many who were completely cut off from society, Were unaware of the availability of support systems.
One of them was living alone in a country boat at Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram district, while some were found living on the streets.
Of the 64,006 households identified as extremely poor, 43,850 (68.51% of the total) are single member households. Two panchayats in the state – Kumarapuram in Alappuzha and Kallar in Kasaragod – did not have a single family that could be classified as extremely poor, while there is a similar difference in the 3,500 wards across the state. About 1,400 individuals from the LGBTQ categories have been identified as extremely poor.
The Department of Local Self-Government is set to prepare individual micro plans for each of the 64,006 households/individuals in June. The improvement in their condition will be continuously monitored by linking these micro plans with the annual plans of the local body concerned.
Implementation is expected to begin by July aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger and no poverty, before the 2030 deadline. Progress will be continuously monitored through a dashboard, which will be updated in real time from the ground.
According to top officials involved in the process, absolute poverty in the state is negligible. Most of the cases identified are of relative poverty, which can be addressed. The very poor were identified on the basis of four parameters – food, health, income and housing. Some families were pushed into poverty due to health problems, which wiped out all their savings. Mental health problems were also found in some people living alone.
“The entire process of identification was done in a participatory model, made possible by Kerala’s strong grassroots volunteer network and local administration. Focus group discussions, which included ward members, Kudumbashree members, volunteers and others, were conducted in each More than 19,000 wards to prepare the first draft list of 118,000 households The list of 64,006 was prepared after the final approval of all Gram Sabhas. This is a first of its kind process to identify the extremely poor in the country.”
Malappuram district with 8,553 families is the poorest, while Kottayam, with 1,071 families, ranks last in the list. A large percentage of the extremely poor (81.24%) are concentrated in rural areas.