THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government on Thursday strongly defended the credibility of the extreme poverty eradication programme, stating that recent criticism from a section of experts was politically motivated and baseless.
Addressing a press conference here, Local Self-government Minister M B Rajesh said some experts were making misleading statements without verifying the data and government orders available in the public domain. He said the government never claimed to have eradicated poverty, but has eradicated extreme poverty.
The minister said people in poverty may still be able to sustain themselves through work and limited income, while those in extreme poverty are individuals unable to lead normal lives or access basic services or documents. “The goal of the programme was to bring such people back to normal life through targeted interventions,” Rajesh said.
Rejecting allegations that the list of beneficiaries lacked transparency, the minister said the identification of beneficiaries was carried out through a multi-stage, participatory process involving local bodies, Kudumbashree members, and community organisations.
He pointed out that the 2022 Economic Review of the State Planning Board, as well as subsequent editions, carried detailed references to the poverty eradication process.
“If their intentions were genuine, they could have raised questions anytime in the past four years,” he added.