The “Kerala model of development” is often cited as a path for developing nations to secure strong human development indices (literacy, health, etc.) but without first adopting the “Washington Consensus” (essentially higher, per capita GDP via free markets). Today’s Economist Blog has a brief update on the model and the risk posed to it by the global economy and it reminded me of an old-ish article I never got around to blogging…
Back in September ’07, NYT described the Kerala model and its adherents this way –
TRIVANDRUM, India — This verdant swath of southern Indian coastline is a famously good place to be poor. People in the state of Kerala live nearly as long as Americans do, on a sliver of the income. They read at nearly the same rates.
With leftist governments here in the state capital spending heavily on health and schools, a generation of scholars has celebrated the “Kerala model” as a humane alternative to market-driven development, a vision of social equality in an unequal capitalist world.
…It also gained a reputation as a place hostile to business, with heavy regulation, militant unions and frequent strikes. There are fishing jobs but little industry and weak agriculture. Government is the largest employer; many people run tenuous businesses like tea shops or tiny stores.
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p>However, if there’s one thing economists of all stripes agree on, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. They further note –
…far from escaping capitalism, they say, this celebrated corner of the developing world is painfully dependent on it.
“Remittances from global capitalism are carrying the whole Kerala economy,” said S. Irudaya Rajan, a demographer at the Center for Development Studies, a local research group. “There would have been starvation deaths in Kerala if there had been no migration. The Kerala model is good to read about but not practically applicable to any part of the world, including Kerala.”..The number of overseas workers doubled in the 1980s, and then tripled in the 1990s. In a state of 32 million where unemployment approaches 20 percent, one Keralite worker in six now works overseas.
And both the NYT and the Economist blog go into some of the painful details as the global economic slow down works its way down to my home state –
THE lush state of Kerala in the south of India generates most of its foreign exchange either by exporting people or importing them. It earned almost 20 billion rupees ($500m) from foreign tourists in 2006 (the latest year for which figures are available) and about 245 billion (in the same year) in remittances from Keralites working abroad, 89% of whom go to the Gulf.The state has an astonishing 24.5 emigrants per 100 households. Kerala’s per capita output is one of the lowest in India, but its per capita expenditure is one of the highest. (Gopinath Pillai, a Singaporean diplomat of Keralite descent, describes the situation like this: one poor fellow works three shifts in Dubai, saving every penny to send home, where there will be eight guys reading two newspapers a day and discussing politics.)
With large numbers of these ex-pat Keralites employed in the Gulf’s (a) oil-fueled (b) construction industry, the global downturn is likely to be a double whammy. While the rest of India is likely to do well over the next few years due to strong, internal trends, Kerala for all its efforts to insulate itself from the vicious swings of capitalism may wind up the most exposed.
The coal consumed by me in powering my home in United States is approx. 14 Billion tons per year ( according to EIA 3.5843 Billion short tons of coal per person). If I see all that coal in my front yard, or my city for that matter or the smoke in the sky, it is a gigantic crisis. However, I do not see a lump of coal anywhere in my daily life. In order for the development in Kerala to succeed, it should not display the nuances to common man. That is exactly what the leaders in Kerala is trying to do. Buying up the rights to build power plants in Orissa. It is interesting to see how it proceeds. The city of Cochin bought property and rights in Tamilnadu to process domestic waste from the City. The news, last couple of weeks back, showed the garbage trucks being returned on the Tamilnadu border.
51 · LandBeyond7Zs said
Are you sure? Even if you assume a low calorific value of 20,000 kJ per kg (that would be medium-grade bituminous coal), that much coal would give you 6.5 * 10^19 joules per person per year, which is the same amount you can expect from the nuclear fission of 723 kg of matter, for every person for each year. Check your units.
52 · pingpong said
You seems to be more technical. It is mountain of coal that I consume every year. That is what I wanted to convey. Data taken from gas company, the interpretation of units is confusing. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_coa_con_percap-energy-coal-consumption-per-capita. Make sense out of it. Thank you.
I like the PBS units like you emit the amout of CO2 equal to that of the weight of the car in the life of the car. Much easier for common man to interpret.
The figures are almost certainly intended to be “short tons per person per year”, not “billions of short tons per person per year”, in spite of what it says at the bottom of that page. If that was really billions of short tons of coal per year, it (10^21 kg) would outweigh the total oxygen in the entire atmosphere (10^18 kg) by a few thousand times(!) and could not be burned.
3.5 short tons of coal per person per year sounds about right — a family of 4 would need 14 short tons per year, which at 833 kg/m^3 would occupy a room 8ft x 8ft x 9ft, about the size of a large coal store in the cellar.
Your larger point is taken, even if NationMaster misreported the numbers by 9 orders of magnitude.
I have traveled the rural areas of all indian states.The developmet in the rural areas of Kerala is amazing but people live there are not aware of it.Per day income of a mason in Kerala is Rs.350.It is the same with all daily workers in Kerala(Rs.200 and above).Even village women in Kerala earn Rs.100 per day.The state Govt.provides pension for land workers,Coir workers,tailors ,Agriculture workers and the like.There are Ayalkoottams(group of women in each Muncipality and Pachayat for the welfare of women and help the out with loans and stuff).there is no poverty even in the rural areas .No house without electricity .No panchayat without roads and transportation.Look at the school-going children in Kerala villages.They are healthy,energetic and well dressed. Now 30% of construction workers are from Tamil nadu and Kerala is knows as ‘the gulf’ of poor tamilians.
The draw back of Kerala model is the Govt. cannot provide enough employment opportunities and attract investors like Banglore and other states did.Another draw back is it is 100% consumer State. Even a lorry strike in Tamilnadu or AndhraPradesh affects the lives of Keralies.Acres of cultivated lands in Palakkadu and Kuttanadu have become waste lands now because of the wrong policies of the Govt.
36 · MoorNam said
Very interesting comment.
Is Kerala’s “money order” economy so bad if the larger Indian economy is still growing? i.e. will the effects of the boom in places like Bangalore eventually transfer to a place like kerala that has lots of literate people?
At least India produces goods and services for export. This is very different from many African countries that produce absolutely nothing outside of minerals which can be extracted from the ground and even then, the countries still remain dirt poor.
The president of Uganda hypothesized that India’s large population has forced people to become more competitive because you have to fight to get everything, when opportunities are limited (which will happen in a country of one billion people). So, to get into an ITT in India is much harder because you have to compete with millions and millions of people and this stiff competition will turn out the best of the best because it will force you (if you want to succeed) to work harder.
What do you guys think of Museveni’s analysis about India?
What is the difference between a lakh and crore?
57 · nm said
Lakh =10^5 Crore =10^7
“Kerala model made progress happen in rural areas and not in the cities…..Kerala is way far developed than the rest of India in terms of human rights awareness of ordinary citizens. It did not start with gulf money.”
“….Kerala model has significantly suffered because of militant politics practiced by the political parties and religious right(?). The political parties and religious leaders are a mirror of the society. So I put the blame on common man. The common man in Kerala is much more aware of her/his rights than his counterpart in rest of India. But she or he is seldom aware of ones responsibilities. Kerala has acheived a great deal in obtaining the rights to common man, while it degraded in making sure of the fullfilment of the responsibilities by the common man .”
Very well said! Thanks.
Rather than being a promoter of Kerala-model ideas, gulf money, among other things, is a factor that (effectively) unsettles Kerala model.
But I don’t think that Kerala model is dying, certainly it is changing and some changes are challenging and threatening to the very notion of Kerala model.
“every day in every way it’s getting better and better” (Lennon)
There is a difference between being literate (in Malayalam) and being employable in an MNC.I can agree that in primary education, Kerala may have taken giant strides quite early, but in terms of higher education, one doesn’t see the same sort of development, and opportunities for its educated youth.
TCS has setup a huge training centre in Trivandrum, and Cochin has some IT companies setting up shop.But for true service industries to take root and grow in Kerala, the suffocating Govt control on business must go. I am not sure where I read it, but I believe the CPM in Kerala runs many businesses (including a star hotel, and a multiplex).In this respect, Kerala CPM is probably like the Pakistani Army 🙂
I agree there is hope for Kerala (and even WB), but having seen the rural areas in many States, I don’t think I am gonna go gaga over rural Kerala.For such a smart populace, why should they be happy with supplying only nurses, teachers, railway clerks, and a smattering of IAS officers (all settled in Delhi)?They can do much better, given their headstart.But for that to happen, they need to understand that the ‘model’ (any model) is only good upto a point.It needs to be constantly reviewed, and refined to meet new benchmarks.And these benchmarks needs not come from within India (like Gujarat or coastal AP).Kerala can look at Europe (Switzerland, Norway etc) for inspiration as well.
Btw, Kerala also has the highest suicide ratio in India.Any informed guesses about the reason?
“thank you avial……”
No. I didn’t dream that they surpass Linkin Park. Only that Avial is a change; a change on the margins perhaps, yet with some Kerala-model ideas (concern for the other).
The other link was that of “A couple of entrepreneurs out of Kerala, India, [who] are re-envisioning the way that banking is done. Anish Achuthan (26) and Rameena Rabeedin (28), have developed a branchless network consisting of low-cost ATMs, Smart Teller Machines, E-POS terminals, and a mobile banking gateway that lets you perform transactions using your cell phone. The end result of their efforts brings modern banking technologies to semi-urban and rural markets where traditional banks are unwilling or unable to set up ATMs.” Read them at http://www.readwriteweb.com or http://www.cashnxt.com/ (not fully functional)
The point of mentioning AVIAL and CASHNXT was to show an innovative and inventive side of Kerala youth. With Kerala-model as a platform to stand on (you can’t simply wish that away, even if you are a CDS Trivandrum researcher :)), our kids are out on the prowl in the global landscape.
“every day in every way it’s getting better and better” (Lennon)
59 · Meera J
“gulf money, among other things, is a factor that (effectively) unsettles Kerala model.” ?
Eh? did i hear you correctly?
LOL–points for a subtle and funny reference to our 3d favourite Belgian (after Tintin & Poirot)–well-done! But, I was just referencing the poor treatment of Keralites in the Gulf-states!
😉
60 · Kumar said
Kerala also has the highest level of naturally occurring thorium, leading to high level of natural radioactivity. Thus, in a way, the migratory nature of Kerala model maybe helping the population to survive from cancer and other consequences of natural radiation. Who knows!
Beautiful post! I visited Kerala recently, and was struck by all the “Gulf-cost”-styled houses. I think they’re due for a shock in the next few years, but I sympathisize with them…
61 · Meera J said
🙂 meera, i understand the point you’re making; i’d be glad to read a translation of their lyrics (if available). say, is mr. kamath looking for a bed-in buddy? i’ll volunteer, because i’m into world peace and kerala models and all that.
62 · S Babu said
Yes. It was not a typo. And economists can make things clear how money being pumped without limits to Kerala (huge investments as well thanks to promissory note), though part of it is being used for humanitarian works
The models in California and Detroit can be seen throughout. You see a gleaming strip mall coming to a AnyTown, USA. People are all happy. They rush to the mall to do shopping and some people get employment and a township revolves around it. It becomes a beacon of capital success(?). After a while it becomes outdated. The mall becomes jaded and pawn shops migrate to the mall. They start another mall 10 miles down the interstate, the process starts all over again. Kerala does not have the real estate as in US to have that many dumped malls. The cities in Kerala are those dumped strip malls already. Money is so cheap, so it is misused. Capital is not cheap, accrue it wisely.
People/Stakewholders who are living there should make their educated choices from their own circumstances. The model should be reinvented continuously. Outside influences are good, but they should not take a model from US or another city in India and implement it as it may not be sustainable. They should be like an enterpreneur who use venture capital money to build a successful venture. They should not take money from a promoter and implement the promoter’s business plan. The challenges facing them are enormous. Make those challenges public, debate it and decide with ample thought. War should be fought, victory in war is not a definite moment. It is affordable to loose battles.
60 · Kumar said
contribute to society just as much and if not more than a cut and paste programmer. Is >Nymquist Theorem the essense of education? I think it is a sliver of it. When I was in college it seemed cooler than it really was. Is education the process to learn to live in harmony with people, nature and your surroundings ?
You mean, Nyquist, I suppose. I still find it cool as a concept, but I am not good at converting observations into numerical values.
Any way, are you, by any chance, implying that the Kerala model stands for ‘educated’ people living in harmony with nature? I will find it a reasonable statement if it comes from a Kerala resident who is not a CPM voter.
Btw, no one’s saying nurses and teachers don’t contribute.But Kerala can do better than that.If the model has any thing to do with this indifferent way of looking at development as a ‘one side wins all’ scenario, I urge the Mallus to revisit the model and refine it to more effectively meet today’s and more importantly, tomorrow’s needs.Our children may not see any ‘aura’ in the under developed nature of trivandrum.
better than that? Very offensive mate. Teachers and nurses are an essential part of society – they provide significant value to society. Would you prefer that they become Wall Street bankers? Nursing is pretty much a Mallu domain in India and even across the world, if you see a desi nurse, 9/10 she will be Mallu. These days even Male Mallus become nurses.
Maybe the caste system is reasserting itself. Mallus can handle our healthcare. Gujus can do industry. Telugus can do IT.
70 · Kumar said
Kerala Model was coined by Richard W. Franke and Barbara H. Chasin ( anthropologists from NJ ) in the early part of 80s. It was about having high human index development without spending enormous capital. A model that could be worked in most parts of the developing and undeveloped world. Those professors were alleged to be left leaning. Their study took data from 70s and 80s before the days of outsourcing.
In my mind, development with Kerala Model has succeeded in the following key factors and it can be repliocated in many parts of the world.
Enough education to have human rights awareness Political participation by common man on the issues concerning him. Eradication of casteism and building of religious toleration(Ever wondered why 15-45 year old Mallus have non religious names which does not have any meaning at all). Preservation and non-destruction of nature Decent living conditions for the economically backword people
From 80s and 90s, the globalization changed Kerala and India in a lot of ways. I am sad to see that Kerala has gone back on some of the development fronts or cannot meet the momentum in many areas. Because the metrics of success has changed a lot for the model. Religious fundementalism which is a nightmare for most part of the world is coming back to Kerala as the society turned more insular. Responsible development still has much support in Kerala. They are not as development crazy because it is tough for individuals to make quick dirty buck on development in Kerala.
The problems and benefits of development for Kerala is the same as that of any other state in India. We hear more noises, because common man’s voice is included in that. I do not think most of Kerala has communist thinking. Their thinking is definitly leaned to left(economically) just as any other state in India. The religious fundamentalists are small in number. So the social right wing is less in number compared to other states. They do not see one political party capable and organized to represent their problems. CPM in Kerala was(is?) organized well and were represeted well in the lower ranks. So they have a base in Kerala. But the general population does not trust any political party. So they keep changing the government every 5 years between 2 national parties(Congress and CPM led coalitions). CPM has fascist mentality, which is loved by people on the lower levels, because muscle brings lower level changes quickly. But their fascist behaviour is well resisted by middle class and the media.
I see that you have never heard of concept of clusters. Read it up and you ll know. And before folks start off on Gujarat industry read up on Amul and its erstwhile Chairman.
I’m with Melbourne Desi, Kumar, where are you getting this condescension towards nurses? That’s a bit silly. They make about US$100K/year if well-trained here.
73 · LandBeyond7Zs
We can’t remain blind to the fact that ” Religious fundementalism which is a nightmare for most part of the world is coming back to Kerala as the society turned more insular”. It is a nemesis of Kerala model progress that many educated, but brain-washed youths of Kerala are active partners or supporters of militancy in India. The names of more and more well-educated Kerala youths are figuring in cases of militancy in India. At the present moment “gods own country” is the ‘hotbed of militancy’ in India. And its a common observation that these brain-washed youths gather much political support from Kerala vote banks. So the water is troubled for Kerala model development.
Melbourne Desi and Rob:
Please don’t be over sensitive.
All I am saying is that Kerala’s youth need to have better opportunities than what they seem to have right now.Not all teenage girls may want to become nurses.For example, Kerala could become a major research hub in the country.Neighbouring TN has hundreds of crores invested in renewable energy (wind power, tidal power etc). I don’t see that happening in Kerala yet.Karnataka is the bio-tech research hub of India.Why can’t Kerala tap into such industries?
This is the biggest joke I have heard about the model.If any, Kerala is more casteist and communal than even its neighbouring states.And most likely, it is because of the model, and not inspite of it.
In short, my expectations from a state like Kerala, is that it will be a benchmark for the country, and not be seen as a money order economy, and live off the largesse from the Union Govt.
78 · Kumar What kinds of sense of homour people are endowed with!!! It is factually correct that casteism is minimal in Kerala and that religious toleration was the norm there(until recently)and that there was not even a single instance of religious intolerance in the history of Kerala(until recently).
sadly, however, Kerala is becoming communal and we all are responsible for that. By remaining silent we all contributed to the birth and growth of communal, religious and intolerant sectors in Kerala . The monster of religious sentiment is thwarting the aspirations of the Kerala model.
Just to mention today’s news from Google. The political class (almost everyone) is trying their best to bring an off-campus of the Alighad University in Malappuram (a muslim dominated district in Kerala) while there is already a university (Calicut University) in that district. The government, as per the news, would provide infrastructure facilities and acquire land (400 h) for the Distance Education Centre of the University that would have all the facilities of a University. Nobody ever tried that hard to get an IIT in Kerala, because it does not cater to the religious sentiments at present. And the religious sectors exploit the celebrated Kerala model to their sectarian benefits, in every possible way. Certainly, they are stifling all-round-development in Kerala.
Pray, what are the facts that prove casteism is minimal in Kerala? From what I know, even Muslims (Moplahs) and Christians have castes in Kerala.And you have organizations such as Nair Service Society.Also, if casteism was minimal earlier, why did it need a Narayana Guru?
Not even a single instance of religious intolerance? What about Moplah in 1921? And how come no one mentions the Marad massacres?
Kerala is as good or as bad as any other State in India w.r.t. casteism/communal issues.And similar to other Indian states, the Kerala police are communalized or at least politicized.Sadly, Kerala is also proving to be the biggest supplier of man power to jihadi networks these days.
And, we have veered off from discussing the model, as some of you are getting more and more defensive of the State.C’mon..its part of India;Kerala is not an El Dorado where the generic Indian problems of caste and religion (and marxism) just vanish into lush estates, and hide in the boats on the lovely backwaters.
Lovely place, great people, lot of contribution to culture and traditional science.But the model needs to be reviewed dispassionately and refined.That is all I am saying.Why get defensive about it?
If you take violence related to religion in Kerala, you will understand that you cannot blame any particular religion for violence. I and many people in Kerala do not believe all people who belong to certain religion are the cause of religious violence in Kerala. That itself is a sign of religious tolerence. Apart from few urban areas and one prominent district in Kerala, people of all religion live among each other. Apart from few places, religious pockets are exceptions in state where 3 major religions have significant presence compared to national average. In reliogious issues also, Kerala is not isolated in the global information age.
In the information age, it is very easy to create a perception in one or two of the hottest areas and the people would accept it as a fact all thru the world. That is why community oriented development, decentralization, voices of differences and disagreement needs to be promoted. A centralized system is like a snake, you only have to hit the head to kill the snake. Sadly, India is going from its age old tradition of decentralized control to central control. With that kind of arrangement, you only need 2 to 3 top persons ears to implement any economic policy. So I like that fact that people in Kerala is not in unison for many of the key issues. A fast moving society with unified decision making like China may seem sexy to many people in India, but that is no path intelligent human being would like to take. You build the right systems, money and development will come. I mentioned Nyquist Theorem early. The fundamental of Nyquist is no system is perfect, but the system becomes better as you provide more variety of scenarios.
80 · Kumar said
Kerala was the birth place of modern Hinduism with prominents like AdiSankara in 9th century AD. Unfortunately casteism was highly promoted in the process. In the early part of last century Kerala had the waste of casteism in India. Swami Vivekananda has mentioned it as the mad house of casteism. Narayana Guru worked against it. That is why I said the Kerala model from 50s to 60s worked wonders to get rid of worst of casteism. 70s and 80s were golden periods. Casteism is making a big come back. It is a reflection of India and the world as a whole. Kerala is no ElDorado, but some things worked really well in Kerala and people seem to miss those good things. As always, Good things are never a fashion.
80 · Kumar said
It started as a reliogious killing between Muslims and Hindus. Then it played into RSS-CPM rivalry. But it was no pogrom. Though sad, the best outcome of the incident was most everyone regardless of religion and party was brought to justice, without much political or religious involvements. 5 people got killed in the massacre(?). 100s got arrested and 60+ are going to jail for life,that include different religions and parties. Unfortunate, but few cases in India where juducial system prevailed without political decision making.
80 Kumar
There are many studies (JSTOR/EPW etc)that show how those at “the bottom rung of the caste hierarchy in Kerala…..through education, greater economic independence, and through enactment of laws prohibiting discrimination against them, attained a higher status in society. This higher status is evidenced by changes in behaviour patterns, modes of address, common eating and drinking – and even some cases of intermarriage with higher castes; in other words, by the near-disappearance of untouchability. In the interaction between well-to-do Pulayas and the higher castes, the change is, in fact, substantial.” Intercaste marriages among Hindus are very common in present day Kerala. My point in the previous comment was that Sree Narayana Guru etc have an effect in Kerala psyche, reducing casteism. (there are NSS, SNDP etc, but their stress on caste per se is a politically reactionary move).
There were many religious beliefs such as Buddhism, Jainism etc co-existed in Kerala, peacefully for many centuries. No case of religious violence in those historical times.
Things certainly have changed. The past is past. Moplah Riots in 1921, and Marad massacres are unprecedented cases. And as Kumar 80 above says, “sadly, Kerala is also proving to be the biggest supplier of man power to jihadi networks these days.” So it is testing times for religious tolerance as well.
81 LandBeyond7Zs
I agree with you. But see the sectarian interest of the state machinery to allow a campus to Alighad Univ, VERY NEAR to Calicut University. If the people were interested in the development of Kerala, they would have managed to get a new IIT, or IIM at that place. Some sections of the society are exploiting the religious tolerance of Keralites to the tilt.
83 · LandBeyond7Zs
No. You are wrong about Marad massacre. It was NOT “a religious killing between Muslims and Hindus”. It was a well-planned, one-sided brutal attack on the unsuspecting Hindu fisherman youths, unlike the everyday clash among fisher folks.
Quoted below are from Wikipedia : marad massacre
Key findings of Justice Thomas P Joseph Commission “The patrolling and search for weapons said to be made by the local police were not effective or purposeful. To put shortly, the local police was lethargic in their attitude towards the situation at Marad Beach.” [7] (chapter 5, sction 37) “It was unfortunate that the household items were damaged at Marad Beach in the presence of police”(chapter 5, sction 42)[7] Coming in for strong indictment is then Kozhikode District Collector T O Sooraj, currently director of Industries for colluding with Muslim League leadership in covering up facts. The commission has observed that allegations that the Collector was a communalist cannot be dismissed as untrue. The Collector had taken custody of the mosque from where the police had seized lethal weapons. But, the commission noted, he allowed Muslim League leader E Ahmed, then an MP and now Minister of State for External Affairs, to enter the mosque (The local Juma Masjid mentioned earlier in the article) and offer prayers, even as an explosive situation prevailed in the area[5]”
Commission’s main recommendation The commission’s main recommendation, was a further inquiry, involving the Intelligence Bureau (I.B), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, into the “larger conspiracy” involving fundamentalist and other forces, and into the source of the explosives and funds that the CBCID “failed or refused” to investigate – an act that the commission described as “quite suspicious and disturbing”.[2]
Kumar I ll take it that you meant “more” rather than “better”. If you meant better than nursing or teaching I am sorry but I have to disagree with you and tell you that you are denigrating both nursing and teaching. Bio-research is great but does not need to come at the expense of nursing or teaching.
IIM is there at Calicut
Sainudheen alias Abdul Sattar Bhai(Keralite from Malappuram District) who is the master brain behind terrorist activities in india including the blasts at Banglore and Gujarat.That’s the terror link of kerala
Fair enough.I never intended putting down nursing and teaching.So, lets make it ‘more’ if it makes you feel ‘better’. 🙂
Oh..we lost decentralized control when the colonial powers came, and even after 60 years of independence, the centralization is showing no signs of retreat.Espsecially true in matters of taxation.
Especially to the Marxists..who have been in power on and off in Kerala since the 1960s.
I donno..70s and 80s being the golden period and all that..I have friends who moved from AP and Karnataka to US in the 70s and 80s.They have similar sentiments about their home states.
As I said earlier, there are enough data points to say that the model worked well initially.But the times are a-changin..upgrade the model or go for an entirely different model..there will be some hardships initially, but in the longer run, if Kerala doesn’t change, the loss is theirs.
(My last comment on this post..thanks for some insights)
11 · Rahul said
ha ha ha
may be kerala should adopt the “washington consensus”:
capitalism for the rich when profits are concerned
socialism TO the rich when times are tough(eg: $700 billion welfare to the banks)
wars based on lies with NO-bid contracts to well-connected companies.
Thanks everyone, for an interesting discussion.
There was a seminar on “Muslim politics ~ Kerala model†held on the occasion of golden jubilee of IUML’s student wing MSF in Kozhikode, on 23rd Jan 09. It was to deliberate on the suggestion that Kerala is a MODEL for muslim POLItics also. And one POLItician who delivered a talk in that seminar was a former MP who was recently suspended from CPI(M) for praising the development model of Gujarat chief minister Mr Narendra Modi. This suspended MP is gathering increasing support from muslim youth and if you look it through you can see the actual shape muslim POLItics is taking in Kerala. And the supporters of that POLItics see it as a model (for the entire world?! 🙂 lol ).
Why I am mentioning this here is that muslim POLItics is taking a highly exploitative stand in Kerala. In a democracy, with a seemingly consolidated vote bank this kind of exploitation is easy. As Jas pointed out in a comment above, no politician questions the need to start an Alighar University campus in Malappuram very close to Calicut University Similarly as Kumar pointed out nobody cares about Marad case. There were serious allegations about state machineries (politicians and partisan officials) in the handling of the Marad case, which even the inquiry commission upheld. Plus there is a concerted to effort to convert people thru ALL means. News paper reports, routinely these days, some Kerala connection in any militant activity in India. The pseudo-secular, POLItical intelligentsia remains silent on all these happenings which in fact threaten Kerala Model development and its acceptance of enlightenment ideas.
It is time the truly secular stood up against the exploitative realities of Kerala. Kerala secularism allows religious extremists sponsor seminars and talks for the general public, on secularism! Kerala enlightenment ideas allow religious extremists sponsor human rights cases and movements! How long Kerala can pretend that it does not see and sense the exploitative hands coming in behind its celebrated secular development?
My comment may appear off-topic to many of enlightened Kerala readers (I respect you for upholding higher values of human life. But certainly things are changing at a faster pace than you have recognized. See the activities of student and youth wing of different groups in Kerala. It will then become obvious to you that the secular cultural space of Kerala has been hijacked, through democratic means nonetheless. A model to imbibe?
Kerala is the most backward, underdeveloped, and mentally deranged place in India. Call me a self hating mallu but I’ve had enough of their arrogance, vanity, insolence, and haughtiness! Not to mention the social maladies of this model left-wing state. Mallus are the largest drunkards of India. They have the highest divorce and suicide rates. They have carried the suicide tradition abroad also. Recently a mallu killed himself after shooting all his family members including his 11 month baby in the U.S. Almost 100 suicide attempts a day. They have the highest unemployment. They consume 25% of national production of psychotropic drugs. I’m glad that I’m a mallu born in Rajasthan where I grew up around people who are not so full of themselves.
kerala is stii a mad house
what i meant say saw. Kerala still very mad
what really meant say was .. kerala is still a mad hose
a mad house
Highest suicide rates. Highest alcohol and drugs consumption. Highest divorce rates. Highest road accidents. Largest mentally deranged population. Highest unemployment. Most backward in infrastructure and development. Largest sexual perverts, ogling at tourists. Highest sex scandals. Highest women abuses. Largest anti social elements called goondas. A so called 100% literate Keralite who never went out of the State does not know what a subway is.
Kerala is a big lunatic asylum as declared by Swami Vivekananda, with barefooted mallus walking half naked in lungis, spitting in public, peeing on walls and honking proudly in their small match box cars. Stone age tribals still living in coconut jungles and die falling into pot holes. By just reading some alphabets does not make one civilized or literate. Their king Mahabali was a demon.
Arrogance, pride, hypocrisy, vanity, insolence, haughtiness, lust, greed, anger, jealousy, killings, family fights, adultery are all demoniac traits exhibited by them and even promoted by their television serials. A Bihari maybe filthy outside but lunatic mallus are more dangerous, with an arrogant, pervert, hypocrite and filthy mind.
lunatickerala on youtube
I agree with the most of the comments which says that Kerala need to revise its strátegies. I also agree that we have been thriving in foreign currency. But This money has given somehow a good base which enabled the development from the lower groups of the society. For me Kerala has madee a launch pad it needed, but it has to launch itself from this, If this doesent happen things wont be that nice for us. But the good news is if we launch by slightly bending our economic policies and if we can get rid of this annoying trade unions then I bet even it can overtake gujarath in terms of development.
For simple reason we have every basic inrastructure for development and its equally spread all over the state our geographic positions can be easily take advantage for trade and we already have a major port in Cochina and another one is on construction.
What we just need is a strong government concentrating on development for atleast 2 terms. I am not expecting a double digit unbalanced growth. But with its base it can attain a good healthy stable growth rate taking the entire society forward.
But after all this i would like to bring it to your notice that our government sectors grew 6.8% under the communist governemnt this year for which i beleive all credits go to just our chief minister Achhutanandan..But communist party otherwise as a whole is highly corrupt.