Kerala model of development
Topic: Human Development: Concept, Approaches and Measurement · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Kerala model of development refers to Kerala's high level of human development at a modest income per head. Its literacy, life expectancy and infant mortality (how many babies die before their first birthday) are close to those of rich countries. A 1975 study by the UN and the Centre for Development Studies first drew attention to this. The causes include land reform, public health care and schooling, women's education and freedom to make choices, social reform movements, decentralised planning (handing planning to local bodies, as in the People's Plan Campaign of 1996) and money sent home by workers in the Gulf. The model has limits too: slow industrial growth, unemployment among educated people, dependence on remittances, a fast-ageing population and more lifestyle diseases.
Example
Kerala lies on the south-western coast of India. It leads Indian states in human development even though richer states have higher incomes. Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Cuba are similar "high human development at modest income" cases.
Don't confuse with
- Growth without development: some Gulf states show the reverse pattern, with high income but weaker social outcomes.