Keralas extreme poverty-free status wont affect AAY foodgrain supply: Joshi

There will be no change in the supply of foodgrains to Kerala under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) even as the State government has declared itself free from extreme poverty, Food Minister Pralhad Joshi informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply, the Minister said extreme poverty is not a criterion for identification of eligible households in the AAY guidelines.

“As extreme poverty is not any criterion for identification of eligible households in the AAY guidelines, no change in the supply of foodgrains to Kerala is envisaged for the present,” Mr. Joshi said.

Under the National Food Security Act, 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month is provided to those covered under AAY, and 5 kg per person per month for priority households.

The Centre has developed a comprehensive index known as the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure poverty.

As per the report ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023,’ released by NITI Aayog, the proportion of population in multidimensional poverty declined from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21, indicating that about 13.5 crore people escaped poverty during the period.

The proportion of population in multidimensional poverty in Kerala declined from 0.7% to 0.55% between the same period, indicating that about 53,239 people escaped multidimensional poverty in the State.

As per NITI Aayog, multidimensional poverty in India is estimated to have declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23, implying that 24.8 crore people escaped poverty during this period.

On November 1, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that the State was free from extreme poverty, in a special session of the Assembly.