How Kerala says it ended extreme poverty: An IAS officer explains on South Central 50

This week, we released the 50th episode of South Central. I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for listening, sharing, writing to us, disagreeing with us, and for staying with this show week after week.

Published on:

07 Nov 2025, 2:32 pm

Kerala has announced that it has “eradicated extreme poverty,” a claim that has drawn admiration, skepticism and everything in between. On South Central, Dhanya Rajendran and Anisha Sheth spoke to IAS officer Anupama TV, Special Secretary of the Local Self Government Department, and Professor Freddy Thomas from Bengaluru’s Christ University, to understand how the state arrived at this point.

Anupama explained that the state identified extreme poverty based on “four distress factors — safe shelter, income, food and health care.” Families were assessed through a “participatory process” led by local bodies. “The initial list was scrutinised by the Gram Sabha, with enumeration and a 20% super check,” she said. The key difference, she emphasised, was that each family received a micro plan. “It was not one scheme for everyone. For each family, whichever interventions were needed — health, housing, livelihood — all were included.”

Professor Freddy noted that this approach was “bottom-up and decentralized,” rooted in Kerala’s history of grassroots democracy. He said Kerala treats welfare not as a handout but as a “safety trampoline,” enabling people to rebuild their lives rather than stay dependent. However, he added that the programme now needs “sustained monitoring and transparency,” especially amid concerns that some tribal communities may have been left out.

South Central also discussed Mamdani’s victory as New York Mayor.

Journalist Prajwal Bhat, who joined us from New York, explained that Zohran Mamdani’s victory sparked intense reactions among sections of the Indian right wing, even though opposition within New York itself was limited.

He noted that the Hindu right mobilised only late in the campaign, even flying a banner calling Mamdani “anti-Hindu,” but there were hardly any local protests. In fact, Prajwal pointed out that “Indian Americans, including Gujarati and Malayali pockets in Queens, largely voted for Mamdani,” and some even organized as “Hindus for Zohran.” He also highlighted that young voters turned out in record numbers, drawn to Mamdani’s social democratic agenda on rent, childcare and public transport.

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Audio Timecodes

00:00:00- Introduction

00:01:44 - Ayodhya of the south

00:04:03 - Headlines

00:14:02 - Kerala eradicates extreme poverty

00:49:26 - Mamdani wins