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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Reviving the ‘Kerala Model’ of development -Shashi Tharoor and Vinod Thomas

Reviving the ‘Kerala Model’ of development -Shashi Tharoor and Vinod Thomas

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published Published on Feb 10, 2022   modified Modified on Feb 11, 2022

-The Hindu

Its lustre is fading as there are threats from emerging social and environmental risks, but the question is how

Kerala has long been recognised to have done many things right. For years the darling of development experts, non-governmental organisations and social activists, the ‘Kerala Model’ seemed to show that impressive levels of human development indicators — in health, education and quality of life, comparable even to some rich countries — could be achieved without a correspondingly high level of income.

A focus on ‘failures’

But in the recent past, there has been a new debate on the ‘Kerala Model’ of development. Are we not guilty of exporting our unemployment and becoming over-dependent on remittances? Can you build high growth and strong human development indicators on such a flimsy basis? Is it sustainable? The focus in the new debates on Kerala seems increasingly on its failures: low employment, low levels of food intake and low incomes, accompanied by high levels of alcoholism and the nation’s worst suicide rate.

After decades of robust social spending and participatory governance, the lustre of the Kerala model is now under threat from emerging social and environmental risks. Indeed, there is an irony here: some of the very strengths of Kerala’s approach have become sources of vulnerability. For instance, its high life expectancy is translating into a high death rate from COVID-19.

In the face of rising risks, the Kerala model needs to be revitalised. The crucial question is how.

Reflecting the State’s social outcomes, Kerala has India’s highest literacy rate despite ranking only the ninth-highest in per capita income among 28 States. But as new global risks emerge in areas from health to climate change, Kerala’s policies need to be bolstered and new challenges deftly managed. Severely hit by COVID-19, Kerala’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) contracted over 2019-20 and 2021-22, and unemployment, at 9%, is much higher than the 6% national average. The space to revive Kerala’s sagging economy is limited because of a high fiscal deficit, around 4% of GSDP.

These difficulties could be meaningfully mitigated by smarter socio-economic investments, attention to good governance, and a far better stewardship of the environment. Kerala can develop as a knowledge economy, improve the quality of higher education and vocational training to meet the requirements of a modern workforce, and build on successes in tourism and hospitality services. All this will create meaningful employment and raise incomes.

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The Hindu, 10 February, 2022, https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/reviving-the-kerala-model-of-development/article38403884.ece?homepage=true


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