Kerala’s Zero-Poverty Milestone – OpEd – Eurasia Review

Report on Kerala’s Multi-Stakeholder Model for Extreme Poverty Eradication

Executive Summary: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1

On November 1, 2025, the state of Kerala is projected to announce the complete eradication of extreme poverty, a landmark achievement directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 1 (No Poverty). This success is attributed to the state’s Extreme Poverty Eradication Project, a four-year initiative that has successfully lifted 64,006 families above the international poverty line of $2.15 per day. The project’s efficacy stems from a strategic partnership between the Left Democratic Front government and long-established faith-based organizations (FBOs), primarily Christian institutions. This collaboration exemplifies the principles of SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), leveraging the deep community trust and extensive infrastructure of FBOs to complement state-led welfare systems.

A Multi-Sectoral Approach to Sustainable Development

Historical Foundations in Health and Education (SDG 3 & SDG 4)

Kerala’s current success is built upon a five-century foundation of institution-building in health and education, which has fostered a culture conducive to human development. These historical efforts align with the long-term objectives of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 4 (Quality Education).

• By 1947, Christian institutions managed 35% of Kerala’s schools and 42% of its hospital beds, creating a robust infrastructure for social development.
• Early establishments like CMS College (1817) and the introduction of organized industries by missions laid the groundwork for high literacy and economic participation.
• This foundation has resulted in development indicators that surpass national averages, including a 96% literacy rate, an infant mortality rate of six per thousand live births, and a life expectancy of 77 years.

The Extreme Poverty Eradication Project: A Partnership Model (SDG 17)

Launched in 2021, the government’s project faced the challenge of identifying and assisting the most marginalized households often missed by conventional systems. The state formally partnered with FBOs, recognizing them as essential actors in achieving development targets.

• Catholic parishes, with their intimate community knowledge, identified 18,000 households for inclusion in the program.
• The accuracy of FBO nominations was exceptionally high, with 97% confirmed by government auditors, demonstrating the value of leveraging community-embedded institutions.
• This public-civil society partnership proved critical for the precise targeting required to achieve the final stage of poverty eradication.

Key Interventions and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

The project’s strategy involved a three-tiered approach of immediate relief, medium-term rehabilitation, and long-term asset building, with FBOs contributing at each stage. Each intervention directly supported multiple SDGs.

Addressing Food Security (SDG 2: Zero Hunger)

Immediate relief efforts focused on ensuring food security for families in crisis. Church networks provided a critical safety net, particularly when bureaucratic processes faced delays.

• Parish soup kitchens and emergency ration distribution channels served as a primary source of immediate aid.
• An estimated 42% of all program beneficiaries received emergency food supplies through these church-affiliated networks.

Ensuring Healthy Lives (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being)

FBO-managed healthcare facilities played a pivotal role in providing essential medical services to the extreme poor, preventing catastrophic health expenditures that entrench poverty.

1. Sixty-eight church hospitals and 1,400 palliative care units provided free treatment, including chemotherapy and dialysis, to 3,800 cancer patients identified among the beneficiaries.
2. This intervention saved the state an estimated 68 crore rupees in health expenditure, allowing for the reallocation of public funds to other poverty-alleviation programs.

Promoting Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8 & SDG 5)

Medium-term strategies focused on building sustainable livelihoods through skills training and access to capital, with a significant impact on women’s economic empowerment (SDG 5).

• 127 church-run centers provided skills training in trades like tailoring and digital literacy to 22,000 individuals.
• Parish savings groups extended 152 crore rupees in micro-loans at a low 4% annual interest rate, seeding 6,800 small businesses.
• An impact study revealed that every rupee of credit from these groups generated 4.20 rupees in household income within 18 months.
• Women’s workforce participation among Christian beneficiaries saw a 15-percentage-point increase, directly advancing gender equality.

Reducing Inequalities and Building Sustainable Communities (SDG 10 & SDG 11)

Long-term asset building focused on providing land and shelter, key determinants for breaking intergenerational poverty and reducing inequality.

• Churches facilitated the construction of 2,800 housing units, supporting the government’s LIFE Mission for the landless (SDG 11).
• The “Land with Compassion” campaign redistributed 1,200 acres of agricultural land to landless farmers, with 18% sourced from church holdings, directly targeting historical inequalities faced by tribal communities (SDG 10).

Challenges and Future Considerations

Despite its success, the model faces several challenges that require attention for long-term sustainability and equitable outcomes.

• Inclusivity Gaps: Reports indicate that Dalit Christian communities, who constitute 42% of the Christian poor, were often bypassed by church welfare structures, highlighting an ongoing challenge in fully achieving SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
• Financial Sustainability: Church funding is increasingly reliant on remittances from Gulf migrants, which are declining, posing a risk to the long-term financial viability of these social programs.
• Public Recognition: The government has reportedly downplayed the role of FBOs in public communications, which could affect the future of such cross-sectoral partnerships.

Conclusion: A Replicable Model for National SDG Achievement

Kerala’s victory over extreme poverty is a testament to the power of combining state policy with the deep-rooted infrastructure and trust of community institutions. This partnership model offers a valuable blueprint for achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda, particularly for other Indian states. India’s national think tank, NITI Aayog, has already begun studying the model for potential replication. The nation’s existing FBO infrastructure presents a significant, largely untapped resource for development.

• Over 100,000 Catholic parishes
• 5,000 church-run vocational training centers
• 2,500 mission hospitals

Mobilizing this infrastructure through systematic partnerships, as demonstrated in Kerala, could dramatically accelerate progress towards SDG 1 and other related development goals across India. The key lesson is that eradicating the most entrenched poverty requires both policy precision and parish presence, combining the reach of the state with the roots of community.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 1: No Poverty
   • The entire article is centered on Kerala’s “Extreme Poverty Eradication Project,” which aims to lift 64,006 families out of extreme poverty. This directly aligns with the primary goal of ending poverty in all its forms.
2. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
   • The article extensively discusses the role of church hospitals in providing free healthcare, particularly for critical illnesses. It mentions that “sixty-eight church hospitals and fourteen hundred palliative care units provided these services free of charge” for cancer patients, directly contributing to health and well-being. The mention of low infant mortality and high life expectancy in Kerala further reinforces this connection.
3. SDG 4: Quality Education
   • The article highlights the historical and ongoing contribution of religious institutions to education, noting that “thirty-five percent of Kerala’s schools… were managed by Christian institutions” by 1947. It also discusses modern skill development, where “One hundred twenty-seven church-run skill development centers trained twenty-two thousand people… in practical trades,” which is crucial for lifelong learning and quality education.
4. SDG 5: Gender Equality
   • The article points to the empowerment of women through skill development and economic integration. It states that the “Mar Thoma Skill Development Mission alone prepared forty-two hundred women for integration into Kudumbashree, the state’s massive women’s self-help network” and that “Women’s workforce participation among Christian program beneficiaries rose fifteen percentage points.”
5. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
   • The focus on creating livelihoods and sustainable income is a key theme. The article describes how parish savings groups “extended one hundred fifty-two crore rupees in small loans” which “seeded sixty-eight hundred small businesses,” promoting entrepreneurship and economic growth from the grassroots level.
6. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
   • The project specifically targets the most marginalized and “overlooked by conventional welfare systems,” including the elderly and disabled. The article also mentions the redistribution of “twelve hundred acres of agricultural land to landless farmers,” with a focus on “tribal communities [who] had been historically marginalized,” directly addressing inequality.
7. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
   • The central theme of the article is the successful partnership between the state government and faith-based organizations. The text describes it as a “convergence” where the “Communist-led government… issued a cabinet order explicitly declaring faith-based organizations equal partners in poverty eradication.” This collaboration is a prime example of a multi-stakeholder partnership to achieve sustainable development.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 1.1: Eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
   • The article directly addresses this by stating the project’s goal is to lift “the final 64,006 families above the World Bank’s $2.15-per-day threshold.”
2. Target 1.2: Reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
   • The article mentions that Kerala’s “multidimensional poverty rate fell to just half a percent by 2023, the lowest in the country,” showing progress on this target.
3. Target 1.4: Ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land.
   • This is demonstrated through the government’s LIFE Mission constructing “twenty thousand homes for landless families” and the “Land with Compassion” campaign redistributing “twelve hundred acres of agricultural land to landless farmers.”
4. Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
   • The provision of free treatment for “thirty-eight hundred cancer patients” by church hospitals, which saved the state “forty-two crore rupees,” is a clear example of providing essential healthcare and financial risk protection to the most vulnerable.
5. Target 4.4: Substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
   • The article states that “One hundred twenty-seven church-run skill development centers trained twenty-two thousand people… in practical trades: tailoring, food processing, digital literacy, small business management.”
6. Target 8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.
   • The parish savings groups that “extended one hundred fifty-two crore rupees in small loans” which “seeded sixty-eight hundred small businesses” directly support entrepreneurship and the growth of micro-enterprises.
7. Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.
   • The entire article is a case study of this target, detailing the partnership where the government and “ten thousand Catholic parishes became invaluable” in identifying and supporting the poor.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Indicator for Target 1.1: Proportion of population living below the international poverty line.
   • The article provides a specific number: 64,006 families being lifted above the World Bank’s $2.15-per-day threshold.
2. Indicator for Target 1.2: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age; Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions.
   • The article states Kerala’s multidimensional poverty rate fell to 0.5%.
3. Indicator for Target 3.4 (Mortality from NCDs): The number of cancer patients receiving treatment.
   • The article specifies that 3,800 cancer patients among poverty-line families received free treatment.
4. Indicator for Health Outcomes: Infant mortality rate and life expectancy.
   • The article provides concrete figures: an infant mortality rate of six deaths per thousand live births and a life expectancy of seventy-seven years.
5. Indicator for Target 4.1 (Education): Literacy rate.
   • The article mentions Kerala’s literacy rate of 96%.
6. Indicator for Target 4.4 (Skills): Number of people trained in vocational skills.
   • The article states that 22,000 people were trained in skill development centers.
7. Indicator for Target 5.5 (Gender): Women’s workforce participation rate.
   • A specific metric is given: “Women’s workforce participation among Christian program beneficiaries rose fifteen percentage points.”
8. Indicator for Target 8.3 (Entrepreneurship): Number of new businesses created.
   • The article reports that small loans from parish groups “seeded sixty-eight hundred small businesses.”
9. Indicator for Target 1.4 (Housing): Number of housing units constructed for the poor.
   • The article mentions that the government’s LIFE Mission constructed 20,000 homes and churches facilitated an additional 2,800 housing units.

Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: eurasiareview.com