Homeless Tamil woman gets land under poverty eradication scheme

The State government has provided land to Pichammal, a Tamil Nadu native who has been making a living by collecting and selling scraps near Manjeri, as part of its extreme poverty alleviation programme.

Revenue Minister K. Rajan, while distributing land deeds to 33 families of extreme poverty here on Friday (August 15), assured Pichammal that the government would construct a house for her and offer medical support as well.

Pichammal’s family, comprising her mother and two young children, has been struggling financially. Although they applied for land ownership years ago, they had not received it yet. The Minister has asked the district administration to provide her a red ration card.

Mr. Rajan also said that extreme poverty eradication was one of the most significant schemes of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. He said Kerala would become the first State in the country without anyone in extreme poverty by November 1.

The Minister attributed the success of poverty eradication to the coordinated efforts of various departments under the Local Self-Government department (LSGD) in identifying the extremely poor.

The LSGD’s survey identified 64,006 families in the State living in extreme poverty. The government initiated measures to uplift them, including distributing 33,065 land deeds in Malappuram district so far, said Mr. Rajan.

P. Ubaidullah, MLA, presided over the function. District Collector V.R. Vinod, Sub Collectors Dilip K. Kainikkara and Sakshi Mohan, and Additional District Magistrate M. Meharali spoke.