According to NITI Aayog figures, Kerala is the state with the least poverty in the country

According to NITI Aayog's latest figures, Kerala is the state with the least poverty in the country. The index was prepared on the basis of performance in health, education and standard of living.

The poverty index is determined using a common methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative and the UN Development Programme and adopted globally. On 12 criteria, only 0.71 per cent of people in Kerala are poor, against 51.91 per cent in Bihar, 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand and 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh.

Chief Minister Com. Pinarayi Vijayan said it is a matter of pride that the government's uncompromising work to ensure people's welfare, despite many challenges including the pandemic and natural disasters, laid the foundation for this achievement. Once the new schemes the government has drawn up to eradicate extreme poverty are implemented, poverty can be wiped out from our land, he added.