Kerala will become the first State in the country without people living in extreme poverty, Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh has said.
He was speaking after performing the State-level inauguration of Ujjeevanam, a 100-day livelihood campaign organised by the Kudumbashree as part of a government plan to eradicate extreme poverty, here on Wednesday.
The Minister said scientific implementation of the project would help meet livelihood requirements of those living in extreme poverty.
As per the latest statistics of the NITI Aayog, Kerala had the lowest poverty rate in the country – 0.5%. The government had given priority to bringing these families into the social mainstream. By eliminating the lack of livelihood opportunities, which was the main cause of poverty, Ujjeevanam aimed at lifting each family into self-sufficiency.
Micro-plans had been prepared for the 64,006 families identified by the Kudumbashree as living in extreme poverty. Of these, the 6,429 families in need of livelihood would be provided financial assistance and training to start enterprises that ensured a sustainable income.
Data collection from families for identification of possible livelihoods would start soon. This would be done through a mobile app. As many as 93% of these 64,006 families would be lifted out of extreme poverty by November 1, 2024, and the remaining 7% by November 1, 2025. Plans to realise this objective would be implemented in a time-bound manner, the Minister said.
Local Self-Governments Additional Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, in her keynote address, said that as the State’s poverty alleviation mission, the Kudumbashree together with local bodies should be able to lift these families out of extreme poverty.
Kudumbashree Executive Director Jafar Malik spoke. Livelihood project financial assistance was distributed to select extremely poor beneficiaries from the districts by Mr. Malik, district panchayat president D. Suresh Kumar, and State Planning Board member Jiju P. Alex.
