Extreme Poverty Eradication Project
May 2021 under the Nava Keralam Mission, the program culminated in Kerala officially declaring itself the first state in India to eradicate extreme poverty on November 1, 2025.
Key Features of the EPEP Model
- Four Core Indicators: The project evaluates severe deprivation based on access to food, health, income, and housing.
- Data-Driven Identification: A micro-level survey conducted by the Kudumbashree network and local bodies originally identified 64,006 families (roughly 1.03 lakh individuals) living in extreme poverty
- Tailored Micro-Plans: Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, a customized rehabilitation micro-plan was drawn up for every individual household to provide land, houses, treatment, or essential identification documents (like Aadhaar and ration cards).
Current Status: EPEP 2.0
Following the official declaration, the state government transitioned into EPEP 2.0 to prevent any families from relapsing back into extreme poverty and to dynamically map any newly vulnerable citizens.