Economists give 'Kerala Model' a sound thrashing

Until just the other day, the "Kerala Model" of development was being hailed as a shining example and one that scores of developing and underdeveloped countries were told to copy. Not any more, though.

A series of outbursts by several world-renowned names in economics has ensured that the Kerala Model has been more or less rubbished into ignominy. It began last year when economist Jeffrey Sachs underlined the fact that Kerala's growth experience had been a paradox, and that as the word paradox suggests, it was not one that would sustain itself.

Sachs said Kerala's achievements in the social sector were indeed enviable, and drew comparisons to the development picture of Costa Rica, but warned that the social pillar that Kerala had built up was unlikely to last because it had been achieved without a matching financial foundation.

Following Sachs, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, industrialist Swraj Paul and the vice-president of the World Bank Institute, Vinod Thomas - himself a Keralite - have all picked holes in the Kerala model, pushing it further into oblivion.

Amartya Sen, who made a visit to Kerala last week at the invitation of the state government, put things in perspective by stating that Kerala appeared to be fighting the advent of globalisation simply because the state thought that it was being implemented by some western forces.

Sen argued plainly that globalisation was a phenomenon of our times, which had no implementing authority and countries had to either adapt to it and benefit from its advantages or lose out. Kerala, he said, could in no way afford to be left out of the process, and be complacent with the knowledge that it had made some strides in primary education and health care.

Sen, who preferred not to use the term "Kerala Model", and instead referred to Kerala's development pattern as the "Kerala experience", told the state's political leadership that despite the achievements in primary education, Kerala continued to lag in the matter of higher education.

He also pointed out that even in the matter of literacy, Kerala's position was slipping. London-based industrialist Lord Swraj paul, who was presented with the corporate leadership award by the state government, frankly told his audience in the state that globalisation had to be speeded up in the country, much to the shock of the state's political leadership.

Lord Paul was candid when he said that he did not even intend to make another trip here in the near future since he was not happy either with the progress of economic reforms in the county or with the level of transparency.