Just few days after Kerala declared itself ‘extreme poverty free’, the State Government has demonstrated that the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP) was a milestone, not the conclusion, of its determined fight against deep deprivation.
The Civil Supplies Department issued priority household (pink) ration cards to 28,300 families across Kerala. These pink cards are designated for those below the poverty line (with an annual income below ₹24,200).
Government sources indicate that a significant number of these new recipients are eligible for the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) yellow card— the category reserved for the poorest of the poor, even worse off than pink card holders.
A senior officer from the Civil Supplies Department explained the situation: "We cannot give them yellow cards because Kerala has reached the maximum limit set for yellow cards. So, they have been temporarily given the pink card." Currently, Kerala has 590,174 (over 5.9 lakh) AAY yellow card holders, and the officer stressed, "We cannot add one more to this."
However, the Government maintains a rank list of pink card holders based on the ascending order of deprivation— the more deprived the family, the higher its rank. "If any family or individual on the current AAY list drops out — either due to a rise in their standard of living or death — the family or individual at the top of the priority household list (pink card holders) will move into the AAY category," the official confirmed.
AAY households are entitled to 35 kg of food grains per household per month, whereas Priority Households (pink card holders) receive 5 kg of food grains per person per month.
The allocation of 28,300 pink cards just three days after the 'extreme poverty free' declaration — nearly six times the number of cards distributed during the EPEP — and the fact that a large proportion should ideally hold a yellow card, reveals a critical point: there are still extremely poor families without an AAY card beyond those identified during the EPEP.
A family that qualifies for an AAY card is, by definition, extremely poor. Such families perfectly fit the Kerala Government's own criteria for extreme poverty: those who have lost the capability to secure the four basic requirements of land, house, shelter, and basic income. The eligibility criteria for AAY yellow cards — which include households headed by widows, terminally ill, disabled, or elderly persons with no assured income, and all primitive tribal households — are a mirror image of the yardsticks developed for the EPEP.
Recognising that the task is incomplete, Civil Supplies Minister GR Anil announced that there will be another opportunity to apply for pink cards starting November 17.
"We believe that 70,000 more families or individuals who are eligible for yellow or pink cards have still not applied," a senior official said, suggesting that a "lack of awareness of such a facility" could be the reason for this unresponsiveness.
"There is a chance that there would be a rare family without a ration card. I admit it," he said while inaugurating the distribution of the 28,300 priority household ration cards. He added that he had personally instructed officials to visit a family in Palakkad after a local report highlighted their situation.
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