Kerala declared itself free from extreme poverty becoming India’s first state to do so, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

On November 1, 2025, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared the state free from extreme poverty, calling it a “historic milestone” and the first in India to achieve this goal. The initiative, launched after the 2021 elections, identified impoverished families through local participation involving MLAs, Kudumbashree workers, and volunteers, coordinated by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration. While the government hailed it as a community-driven success, the opposition boycotted the assembly, disputing the data and calling the claim misleading.