Shoranur Becomes Kerala's First Municipality to Eliminate Extreme Poverty

Shoranur Municipality in Palakkad district has become the first in Kerala to be declared free of extreme poverty. This was achieved by lifting all 99 families identified in the municipality’s extreme poverty list out of poverty. As part of the effort, houses were built for five homeless families. Four other families, who had no land or house, were given land through the Manasode Ithiri Mannu scheme. Flats will be constructed for them on 25 cents of this land. The municipality also addressed other issues faced by the families on the poverty list through focused and practical solutions. This achievement comes ahead of the state government’s plan to declare Kerala an extreme poverty-free state on November 1. Shoranur had earlier made news for becoming a waste-free municipality and for achieving 100% digital literacy. It has also won the award for the best municipality in the district. The state government is running the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project with the goal of completely eliminating extreme poverty. This project aims to fulfil two key Sustainable Development Goals ending poverty and achieving zero hunger. Under this project, a list of 64,006 extremely poor families, including 1,03,099 individuals, was prepared with help from local bodies and the public. The reasons behind each family's poverty were studied in detail. Based on this, short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans were created and implemented. As a result, 30,658 families, nearly 48% were freed from extreme poverty in the first phase. By May 23, 2025, a total of 51,417 families, or over 80%, had been lifted out of extreme poverty.Ending extreme poverty is one of Kerala’s major steps towards social development. The success of Shoranur Municipality shows the real impact of this mission. By aiming to become an extreme poverty-free state, Kerala is setting a new model of development focused on people’s well-being and social justice.