Overview
- Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made the declaration in a special Kerala Assembly sitting on Kerala Piravi Day as the Congress-led UDF walked out calling it a fraud.
- The Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme launched in 2021 used local-body surveys to identify 118,309 individuals in 64,006 families, later refined to roughly 59,000 after verification, deaths and migration.
- Citing programme outputs, the government reported 4,677 houses built under LIFE Mission, land-and-house support for 2,713 families, regular food ensured for 20,648 families and document access drives for beneficiaries.
- Budget allocations included Rs 50 crore each in 2023–24 and 2024–25 and Rs 60 crore in 2025–26 for health, housing and livelihoods, with the CM saying the state spent over Rs 1,000 crore on the effort.
- Critics questioned the claim, pointing to a reported starvation death, large AAY ration-card figures and ongoing applications, and The Week reported Rs 1.5 crore was redirected from housing support to fund the announcement event.