Analyzing Kerala's Extreme Poverty Eradication Project, 2021 - IMPRI Impact And Policy Research Institute

Policy Update
Ayana NK

Background

The Extreme Poverty Eradication Project, also known as the Athidaridrya Nirmarjana Project, was launched by the Government of Kerala in 2021 under the Local Self Government Department (LSGD). Its goal was to find people living in extreme poverty who had fallen outside existing support systems and help them exit that condition within five years (LSGD). Sources provide different launch months, ranging from May to July 2021, so the exact date still needs to be verified with the government order.

The project did not begin from scratch. Kerala’s welfare record rests on the 1957 land reforms, strong public health and education systems, and the People’s Plan Campaign of 1996, which handed planning powers to more than 1,200 local bodies (Policy Circle, 2025). Earlier targeted schemes included Asraya, renamed Destitute-Free Kerala in 2017, which supported about 1.57 lakh families by 2021. EPEP was built for a different group: families and individuals who remained invisible to most poverty alleviation efforts.

The state’s starting point was already strong. NITI Aayog’s 2021 multidimensional index put Kerala’s poverty rate at 0.7 per cent, the lowest in India. EPEP set out to reach the leftover pockets of hardship that this headline figure hides.

Functioning

Identification: Kudumbashree and local bodies carried out a micro-level survey and identified 64,006 families, roughly 1.03 lakh individuals, living in extreme poverty. The survey used four indicators: food, health, income and housing. Gram Sabhas approved the final lists (Thalikulam Grama Panchayat, LSGD portal). Marginalised groups, including nomadic communities, were specifically included.

Micro-plans: Rather than a single uniform package, each household received a customised plan. These plans covered immediate needs such as food, medicines and identity documents, as well as long-term needs such as housing, land and livelihood.

Delivery: Local self-government led the implementation and coordinated with line departments. They brought existing schemes, including housing and health programmes, together around each household’s plan. After the declaration, the state moved to EPEP 2.0 to prevent relapse and to map newly vulnerable families (Thalikulam Grama Panchayat, LSGD portal).

Performance

Identification: The project began with 1,18,309 nominated households, narrowed to 87,158 after local self-government committee review and 73,747 after field verification. It finalised 64,006 families (about 1.03 lakh individuals) after Grama Sabha approval, across 1,032 local bodies. Two panchayats reported no eligible families.

Delivery: Micro-plans were implemented in three phases: urgent food and healthcare, sustainable livelihoods, & permanent housing.

Component	Reported achievement
Identity documents (Avakasham Athivegam)	21,263 families
Livelihood support	3,822 families through Ujjeevanam (Kudumbashree), plus 572 through LSGD and private organisations
Housing (LIFE Mission)	4,677 families received houses
Land and housing	2,713 families
House renovation	5,287 houses
Food support	Food kits for 18,438 people; cooked meals for 20,648
Health support	Medical support for 85,271 people; palliative care for 5,777; 7 organ transplants

Outcomes: By 16 September 2025, 53,699 families (84 per cent) had been lifted out of extreme poverty. After excluding deaths, migration, duplicates and families not requiring micro-plans, the figure was 55,861 families, or 96.13 per cent. Note that 96.13 per cent is calculated on this adjusted base, not on the original 64,006, so state the denominator clearly. On 1 November 2025, the Chief Minister declared Kerala extreme-poverty-free.

Funding: The project received Rs 50 crore in each of 2023-24 and 2024-25, and Rs 60 crore was allocated for 2025-26. For a project of this reach, that is modest and worth discussing in the Functioning or Emerging Issues section, since much of the delivery relied on convergence with existing schemes such as LIFE Mission.

External recognition: The Economic Survey 2025-26 cited Kerala’s model alongside Bihar’s Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana as a state-level innovation, praising community participation, frontline worker involvement and digital tracking of service delivery.

Impact

Targeted support to the poorest households: The project reached 64,006 families (about 1.03 lakh people) with individual plans, and the state reports that most have exited extreme deprivation. By 31 October 2025, the Economic Review records 4,005 houses completed for homeless families and 1,417 for landless and houseless families. Other reported outputs include home renovation for 5,287 families, livelihood support for 3,822 families through Ujjeevanam (Kudumbashree), and medical support for 85,271 people, including palliative care for 5,777.

Access to documents and entitlements: Through Avakasham Athivegam, 21,263 people received documents such as Aadhaar, ration cards, health insurance and disability certificates. Documents are the gateway to pensions, insurance and food security, so this brought many families into the formal welfare system.

Household micro-plan model: EPEP replaced uniform schemes with one plan per family, covering food, health, income and housing. The Economic Survey 2025-26 describes this approach, including regular digital tracking by local governments and departments, as a state-level innovation. It cites Kerala alongside Bihar’s Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana.

Community-led identification: Local bodies, Kudumbashree, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, and activist groups ran the door-to-door surveys. The list narrowed from 1,18,309 nominated households to 64,006 after review and Grama Sabha approval. The Economic Survey notes that Kudumbashree acted as both community monitor and service provider.

Recognition: Kerala’s declaration on 1 November 2025 drew national and international attention, including the Economic Survey’s citation of the model. Press coverage (such as The Economist and The Times) and commentary from advocacy groups can be added here.

Built on Kerala’s long record: EPEP followed decades of land reform, universal education, public distribution and the LIFE Mission, which had completed 4,71,442 houses by 31 October 2025. Kerala’s life expectancy is 75.1 years and its infant mortality rate is 5 per 1,000 live births. These results reflect that longer record and cannot be credited to EPEP alone.

Institutional continuity through EPEP 2.0. Launched in February 2026, EPEP 2.0 aims to prevent relapse and identify newly vulnerable households. It makes extreme poverty prevention a standing responsibility of local governments, moving the effort beyond a time-bound scheme.

Limits of the evidence: Most reported results measure delivery, not lasting exit from deprivation. Neither the Economic Survey nor the Economic Review reports follow-up data on income, nutrition or relapse. Economists and the Opposition have noted that the full verification methodology and third-party audits have not been published. Critics also ask how the 5.92 lakh Antyodaya Anna Yojana households relate to the 64,006 identified.

Emerging Issues

Fiscal pressure on recurring commitments: EPEP 2.0 depends on sustained funding through local bodies, LIFE Mission and welfare pensions. The Economic Review 2025 shows the Centre’s transfers to Kerala fell 6.15 per cent in 2024-25, and the revenue deficit rose from 1.6 to 2.49 per cent of GSDP. The welfare pension was raised to Rs 2,000 from November 2025 and covers 49.74 lakh people. Rising recurring commitments on tight finances could squeeze the discretionary support that relapse prevention needs.

High cost of living: Kerala’s CPI inflation was 9.05 per cent in September 2025, against 1.54 per cent nationally, and 9.94 per cent in rural areas. Fixed benefits and one-time asset transfers lose real value quickly. Households just above the deprivation line are exposed too. Brookings notes that many near-poor households hover just above the line, where one shock can push them back.

Climate and disaster risk: Floods and landslides (the 2018 floods and the 2024 Wayanad landslide) show how quickly housing and livelihood gains can be lost. Families rehoused on marginal or vulnerable land face a particular risk of relapse. Connect this to your point on land.

Land scarcity and housing: Kerala is densely populated (860 persons per sq km) and nearly 28 per cent of its area is forest (Economic Review 2025). Under the Land to Landless scheme, 1,756 families were assisted in 2024-25 and 1,060 in 2025-26 (as of 31 August 2025). Land for housing remains a binding constraint, and policy commentary citing LIFE Mission data suggests a large backlog of landless and homeless families remains.

Ageing and health dependence: Kerala has India’s highest elderly share (16.5 per cent), projected at 20.9 per cent by 2031. EPEP’s identification factors included poor health, disability and old age. For such households, lasting support means continuing care, palliative services and pensions, which one-time transfers cannot replace.

Regional and tribal disparities: District per capita income ranges from Rs 2,61,319 in Ernakulam to Rs 1,18,760 in Malappuram and Rs 1,28,359 in Wayanad. Wayanad also has the highest Scheduled Tribe share (18.53 per cent). Forest-fringe hamlets face remoteness, weaker services and human-wildlife conflict, which the Economic Review covers in its forestry chapter. Land titles under the Forest Rights Act reached only 172 families in Attappady and Wayanad in 2024-25, small against the need.

Livelihood sustainability: Reported results lean towards entitlements and assets (documents, houses, repairs), while income support such as Ujjeevanam reached 3,822 families against 64,006 identified. Durable incomes need markets, skills and local demand, which a state with high unemployment among the young finds harder to create.

Measurement and monitoring: EPEP defined extreme poverty through four indicators (food, health, income, housing) without an income threshold, and the full verification method has not been published. Without clear exit criteria and a baseline, tracking relapse under EPEP 2.0 will be difficult. Making local bodies permanent guardians also adds to their existing workloads, which is worth checking against their capacity.

Way Forward

Build a long-term financing plan for EPEP 2.0. Set up a dedicated, ring-fenced fund within the State Plan, with fixed annual allocations to local bodies and a clear link to LIFE Mission and the welfare pension. Predictable funding would protect relapse-prevention work from pressure on the state’s finances.

Index support to the cost of living. Review benefit amounts such as pensions, food support and livelihood grants against Kerala’s inflation, so that fixed benefits keep their value. Add a small contingency fund so that families can get quick help when a price or health shock hits.

Widen the safety net for near-poor households. Create an early-warning list of families just above the identification threshold, using local-body data and Kudumbashree surveys. This allows support before a household slips into extreme deprivation, as EPEP 2.0 intends.

Build climate resilience into housing and land. Locate new EPEP housing on safe land and use disaster-resistant designs. Link rehabilitation to local disaster-management plans, and give vulnerable households insurance and an emergency fund.

Prioritise land for the landless. Create a land bank from available government land and unused parcels, and speed up distribution under the Land to Landless scheme. Pair land with housing in the same micro-plan, so that families do not wait years for a house after receiving land.

Shift from assets to durable incomes. Extend livelihood support beyond Ujjeevanam’s reach through skills training, Kudumbashree enterprises and market linkages, with income tracking for at least three years after support. Tailor options by district, since opportunities differ between Ernakulam and Wayanad.

Plan for ageing and health dependence. Link households with elderly or disabled members to continuing care, palliative services and pensions, delivered through family health centres and local bodies. For these households, a one-time transfer cannot replace long-term care.

Give tribal and remote areas tailored plans. Use community-specific indicators and sub-plans for Adivasi and forest-fringe hamlets. Combine land rights under the Forest Rights Act, wildlife-conflict mitigation, and nutrition and livelihood support suited to local conditions. Attappady’s millet farming is one example of a culturally rooted option.

Publish methodology and set clear exit criteria. Release the identification method, the verification process and anonymised household-level outcomes. Define exit and re-entry thresholds, and commission an independent evaluation. Transparency would answer the questions economists have raised and make EPEP 2.0’s relapse tracking credible.

Strengthen local-body capacity. Provide trained staff, digital tools and clear accountability for the permanent guardian role. Use a common dashboard that links EPEP data with welfare pensions, ration cards, LIFE Mission and health records.

References

Government of Kerala, LSGD. Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP). https://lsgd.kerala.gov.in/en/priority-projects-initiatives/epep/

Thalikulam Grama Panchayat (LSGD portal). Extreme Poverty Eradication Project. https://thalikulampanchayat.lsgkerala.gov.in/en/report/extreme-poverty-eradication-project

Policy Circle (2025). Eradication of extreme poverty in Kerala sets a new benchmark. https://www.policycircle.org/?p=36344

Outlook India (2025). Kerala declares end to extreme poverty; activists and scholars raise doubts. https://www.outlookindia.com/amp/story/national/kerala-declares-end-to-extreme-poverty-activists-and-scholars-raise-doubts

Newsreel Asia (2025). Kerala set to declare end of extreme poverty; experts question the basis. https://newsreel.asia/articles/kerala-end-extreme-poverty-experts-question

The News Minute (2025). Poorly informed criticism undermines Kerala’s drive against extreme poverty.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/poorly-informed-criticism-undermines-keralas-drive-against-extreme-poverty

Millennium Post (2025). The poverty paradox. https://www.millenniumpost.in/opinion/the-poverty-paradox-637155

The Borgen Project. Household microplans in Kerala. https://borgenproject.org/household-microplans-in-kerala/

Shankar IAS Parliament. Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP). https://www.shankariasparliament.com/current-affairs/extreme-poverty-alleviation-project-epep

Vajiram & Ravi (2025). Kerala becomes India’s first state to eradicate extreme poverty. https://vajiramandravi.com/current-affairs/upsc-mains-current-affairs/2025/11/02

About the Contributor

Ayana N K is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calicut. With a keen interest in public policy, international relations, and development studies.