Sustainability of the ‘Kerala Model’

Although Kerala has made remarkable outcomes in its ‘social variables’ such as health and education at economic rate, the concerns on its permanence are strong. Some economists have expressed ambiguity on the standing of the so called Model even though some have backed the Model. Nevertheless, outcomes made by the state have been acknowledged by most of the economic writers. The debate among them was over how the outcomes were drawn and what model of development should be followed in the country.  

1. Insufficiency of growth and recent upsurge: The discussion on income level is important while the sustainability is being examined. The concern is in fact still existing on the maintenance of its enviable outcomes in education and health sectors in the context of low income. Even though the Kerala Model was praised on attaining better living standard at less income per capita, inadequacy of income has to be addressed. Still, Kerala’s income per capita is poor compared to advanced economies and even to some state economies of India although it has outreached the national average. Nevertheless, comparative sustainable growth of the state in the new millennium accredits ray of hope. The role of Gulf remittances and subsequent growth of services and construction sectors is significant in this although the commodity producing sectors were largely hit hard. However Thomas (2016) pointed out that while remittance incomes are not included in state domestic product calculations, their impact is seen in the data on per capita consumption expenditures. Thus the remittances, which have indirect impact on state domestic product, played immense role in the recent upsurge of the Kerala economy.
2. Educational attainments and drawbacks: Superior outcomes procured in educational variables such as literacy, enrolment, dropout and schooling years elevated the Kerala Model.  These achievements are in fact limited to primary and secondary school levels of education. The imperfections such as lack of employability, poor quality and poor ranking among world universities have really pulled back the tertiary level education of Kerala. The advantage of Kerala in its school level education system was in fact never perpetuated in the university or college level education. Though Kerala has made clear accomplishments in basic education system such as high literacy ratio, high enrolment ratio, low dropout ratio and high schooling years, higher education system of Kerala has in fact nothing to highlight as its advantage. Rising educated unemployment, lack of employability and virtual absence of Kerala’s universities and colleges in the list of top rated institutions are heaved as the serious concerns of the tertiary level education of Kerala.
3. Health outcomes and issues: Though the accomplishments made by the state in health indicators are enviable and the performance in health sector is exemplary, the emerging concerns and challenges in the health sector are not in fact triviality. Kerala’s achievements in the life expectancy at birth, infant mortality and maternal mortality may be offset by the ascended morbidity in the state. The prevalence and occurrence of vector borne and life style diseases make its living virtually hellish. The people of Kerala are actually in misery of spending larger portion of their income on health treatment. As pointed out by Oommen (2014), liberalization has challenged the equity foundations of the Kerala Model based on low cost health care. Moreover he indicated the phenomenon of surging the cost of medicines and health care while public health care and medical expenditures are diminishing.   
4. Issues of the landless and homeless in the midst of plenty: According to official figures, 4.70 lakh families remain homeless in the state. Of them, only 2.9 lakh have adequate land for constructing houses. The remaining 1.79 lakh are not only homeless but also landless. (The Indian Express, September 9, 2016). However the scheme named “Project LIFE” launched by GoK as a comprehensive rehabilitation package on 1^st November 2016 likely to address the issues of the landless and homeless.
5. Exclusive nature of the Model: Some sections of the society like tribes, fishermen etc. still are not in a position to enjoy the well being of the Kerala’s unique development experience. Prevalence of poverty and illiteracy among the tribes in the state, lack of tribes’ ownership of land and occupation, lack of hygienic living condition, and lack of effective health care system in tribal areas disclose the exclusiveness of the Kerala Model. Health education and proper sanitary facilities are really far from the tribes in Kerala. Furthermore, Oommen (2016) points out the still existing inequalities in schooling between SC/ST and “other” category.
6. Backwardness of the commodity producing sectors: What Kerala has achieved today is not because of its agriculture or industry. The contribution made by the services sector to the state income of Kerala has become literally enormous after the economic reforms in nineties. The Kerala Model, which has made superb outcomes in social variables, is being questioned on its sustainable existence as the economy of the state lacks commodity base.
7. Infrastructure: Kerala’s infrastructure sector, which is characterized by better roads and highways, and health and education infrastructure compared to other states, is also subjected to criticisms on the inadequacy of the variety modes of transportation, power shortage. An important challenge in transport sector is nothing but the chinking road and rail network of the state. But the fact is that Kerala has still not made the best of transportation sector as its rail network is awaiting much needed and possible expansion, and state-wide water transportation system is still a dream. Although the existing road network is insufficient too as far as the high vehicle population is concerned, road expansion and highway extension in the state have literally become an enigma as popular protests and defense against the road expansion have become common.
8. Gender issues: Kerala, even with enviable outcomes in education variables and pro-women health variables, is notorious in the country for high crime rate against women. This raises concern on whether the so called ‘hundred per cent literacy’, high enrolment ratio and low dropout ratio in schools, high schooling years, and high women enrolment in the arts and science colleges  have helped to fulfill its ultimate objectives.
1. Recent Gulf crisis: It is doubtless that if the recent degraded price of crude oil is persisting for a longer time Gulf economies will be hit hard. This, besides the localization efforts like ‘Nitaqat’, would subside the employment opportunities in the Gulf. This would in turn obviously affect almost all economic activities of the state like Kerala. 
10. Indelible dismay over sustainability of the state finance: Oommen (2016) states that the fiscal crisis which Kerala confronts today is a major factor that can affect the sustainability of the human development attainments and efforts of the state.  Kerala’s state finance, which was at the edge of treasury closure ignited by crummy fiscal management, with limited dynamic tax revenue sources and subsided growth of own tax revenue witnessed severe fiscal ticklers in regular intervals. Fallacious fiscal management of the state was characterized by insouciance in tax collection, upsurge in committed expenditure of the government, use of public debt for non-asset creation activities, fall in capital expenditure and sharing of project fund by the intermediaries. Furthermore, Kerala’s fiscal and revenue deficits as percentage of GSDP was higher than All States average over the period of more than three decades (See Figure 9.1 and Figure 9.2).
11. Ecological overthrow: An economy’s sustainability is admittedly fall backs the ecology. Both effusive as well as abusive uses of the environment post the sustainability of the “Model” in the antitype of forbearance. Kerala, which has rare varieties of flora and fauna, mountains and sea, 44 river systems, numerous lagoons and backwaters, and abundant wetland, has started to face the issues of climate change. Oommen (2016) states that natural systems like forest and the river systems are irreparably destroyed. He also indicated the fast disappearing wetlands in the state. Oommen (2016) argued that the state’s ecology has been under pressure from the growing building construction boom propelled by the flow of foreign remittances.