The Kerala Model

After spending a month in Kerala, India, observing the extreme contrasts under which the state exists, I thought that it would be interesting to take a closer look at the model of development that made Kerala’s growth so successful. With the highest literacy rate and a ranking of first on the country’s Human Development India, it’s clear that Kerala is doing something right.

I found an article on JStor about the “Kerala Model,” and the paradoxical way in which it works. “What Ails Kerala’s Economy: A Sectoral Exploration” discusses the possible reasons that Kerala has remained such a successful state despite the significantly lower employment rates compared to other states. Says the article, “A significant aspect of the ‘Kerala Model” is that even without having high per capita income, industralization and urbanization, the state has reached the third state of demographic transition and people get better medical care and education.” People are continuously amazed at the strides that the state has taken, despite its low per capita income.

Social scientists have found one reason that may be responsible for Kerala’s recent success compared to other states is the performance of their agriculture, both domestically and internationally. It seems that when talking about India as an emerging entity, people are most apt to discuss the technological advances and everything that they are doing in the IT industry. In doing so, they often forget the impact that agricultural trade has on the country. Kerala, specifically, is known for its commercial crops like, “coconut, rubber, tea, coffee and spices…As a result, the sector has been more open to market situations (both domestically and internationally).” Because Kerala does not have as significant an investment in the technology industry, farmers and workers do not have a very significant per capita income but they do work to trade and grow these important crops, also helping with the health and medical sector of their economy.

It seems that at this point, the only real reason that researchers can give for the relatively low level of per capita average is that there is not enough attention to be paid to the economic strain, because many are busy praising them for their more successful quality of life domestically. They have managed to have a 90% literacy rate (which I can imagine is higher than some U.S. states or towns I’ve been to), significantly lower infant mortality rates, and a health care system that is almost unparalleled in the other Indian states. Because Slumdog Millionaire was really the only knowledge of India I had prior to my departure, I was actually happily surprised to find that the conditions abroad were not quite so dire, and that the situations and lifestyles in Kerala, despite not having the highest income, were much better than those elsewhere in India.

I've also attached some pictures from my time spent at the schools in Kerala. The education system in Kerala is almost unrivaled with regards to other states in India. We taught interactive science development to the students, who actually knew more complex science (chemistry & physics) than all of us. Combined.