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Paper short abstract

Kerala’s EPEP shows how multidimensional, participatory, and capability-focused strategies can reduce extreme poverty. Drawing on existing conceptual foundations and field insights, the paper stresses the impacts, challenges, and lessons for holistic, empowerment-oriented anti-poverty models.

Paper long abstract

Efforts to eradicate extreme poverty are increasingly recognising the necessity for multidimensional and empowerment-oriented approaches that surpass mere income transfers, emphasising the enhancement of capabilities, agency, and long-term well-being. Kerala’s Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP) serves as a particularly pertinent example for analysing how modern anti-poverty initiatives incorporate household-level planning, service convergence, and bottom-up social inclusion strategies, which enabled the state to become the first in India to eradicate extreme poverty. This paper sets down the conceptual foundations of Kerala’s approach and places EPEP within the broader context of scholarly and policy debates surrounding empowerment, capability expansion, and last-mile service delivery. In addition to academic literature and publicly accessible programme documents, the paper selectively utilises field observations from the researcher involved in the social auditing team of EPEP. These observations explain how the mandates for transparency and participation have transformed beneficiaries from passive recipients into active monitors and evaluators, in that way reinforcing their democratic agency and reaffirming core values of responsiveness and equity. The discussion highpoints how certain components of EPEP function in practice and scrutinises the persistent constraints faced by households, such as disability, insecure livelihoods, and social marginalisation. The paper will show both the potential and the limitations of Kerala’s model in addressing long-term vulnerabilities, enhancing agency, and fostering resilience. By connecting Kerala’s experience with global discussions on the dynamics of multidimensional poverty and empowerment, this paper provides insights into the lessons that next-generation anti-poverty interventions can draw from state-driven, holistic, and context-sensitive strategies.