Malayalam superstar Mammootty stresses poverty eradication is key to true development in Kerala, urging collective action at CM’s event
Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam superstar Mammootty on Saturday said no "dazzling signs of development" have any value before "a starving stomach" and urged everyone to work together for the complete eradication of poverty from Kerala.
The 74-year-old actor was speaking at a public event organised by the state government at the Central Stadium here to announce the eradication of extreme poverty from Kerala.
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Mammootty said the eradication of extreme poverty from the state was a joyous development and hoped that it would become an example for others.
He said that as Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan made the announcement, "he is taking on a much bigger responsibility" as only extreme poverty has been eradicated.
"Poverty still exists," he pointed out.
He said that when he stepped out now into public life after a gap of several months and travelled to the state capital from Kochi, he saw many dazzling signs of development.
He also expressed hope that within the next 5-6 months travel on the national highway would also become more comfortable.
"That is development, but whose? Construction of wide highways and big buildings does not lead to development. What leads to development is our social life and for that to happen, poverty has to be eradicated completely.
"Any amount of dazzling developments will have no value before a starving stomach. We should see and carry out developmental activities keeping in mind that starvation," he said.
The actor further said that Kerala has been a model for others in a lot of things and the state's social indicators have surprised the world many times.
"We have surpassed many others in the field of social welfare and we have achieved all that due to our social and democratic awareness," he said.
He said that it was the social awareness in the state which helped in bringing down Kerala's poverty rate from what it was at the time of independence.
"Our social wealth is the love, trust and feeling of brotherhood we have for each other. So, to eradicate poverty, we all should stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Let us face it and survive," he said.
PTI
Published: 02 Nov 2025, 06:55 am IST
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