The Lies of the Land

By Dilip -
The popular arguments in defense of the development models of Kerala and Gujarat are of dubious merit

 Kerala is the most “socially developed” Indian state. It is also the state where mothers used to tuck their children into bed whispering the punishment for bed-time resistance. All it took to put a baby to sleep was a warning: “I will hand you over to communists.” Kerala is yet to go through an Industrial revolution. Yet, Kerala has the highest life expectancy and the lowest rates of malnutrition, and infant and maternal mortality among Indian states. It also has the highest literacy rate. In the United Nation’s Human Development Index, many developed countries are no match for God’s Own Country. Perhaps, it is true that the Harvard researchers who visit Kerala are convinced that this is the pinnacle of civilization.

Some think it to be a paradox. But, many believe that the “Kerala model of development” is a vindication of man’s desire to be placed in a cradle where all his needs are met. Even as a worldview, it feels so good. The security of the cradle, however, is tempting only to a pampered baby who has turned too lazy and difficult. Otherwise, a frown appears on its forehead. But, this is nothing to worry about. The cradle seems to exist and function-precisely because of this.
Many intellectuals attribute Kerala’s ‘success’ to its radical leftwing politics, matrilineal system and literacy campaigns that date back to the early 19th century. It is believed that government investment in education, healthcare and basic necessities laid the foundation of progress in Kerala. But governments heavily subsidise education and healthcare throughout the world. The supposedly enlightened voters of Kerala were often ruled by people who even opposed computerisation. Their policy positions are a complete rejection of centuries of economic analysis. Is it plausible that their intuitions are sounder than science?
DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT FREEDOM
The states of Gujarat and Kerala have for long had a certain cachet as standout examples of development, the first for its supposed economic strides and the second for social development. Gujarat’s reputation as a showpiece of development has received a setback after the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi flippantly dismissed the findings of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
According to NFHS 2005-2006, 52 per cent of the children in Gujarat are stunted, in comparison to 25 per cent in Kerala. Modi admitted in a controversial interview with the Wall Street Journal that the health indicators of Gujarat were troubling, but he tried to explain it away by saying that in a middle-class state, women are more beauty conscious than health conscious. It is true that in developed countries, income and obesity are negatively correlated, but this is simply not true of developing countries like India. If Modi were right, middle-class Indian women would be on average, more stunted than the poor. But then, economist Arvind Panagariya had recently pointed out that while Gujarat achieved a reduction of 96 infant deaths per 1,000 live births between 1971 and 2009, the drop in Kerala’s infant mortality rate was only 46. This is true of many facts on which the Kerala ‘success story’ rests. It makes sense to find out whether those claims can withstand serious examination. read more

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