πŸ”– Kerala vs Gujarat Models: History Matters (archive)

A historic look at the Gujarat and Kerala development models, separated from political biases. The two models have evolved over the last two centuries, and even have some commonalities.

Gujarat

Known to have a market-friendly, growth first approach that aims to raise incomes that would lead to trickle down.

The trading communities in Gujarat β€” Parsis, Bohras etc β€” weren’t evangelical and there were fewer Christians here. Thus, there wasn’t much focus on education or health.

The route to prosperity was through business and commerce, not education.

The freedom movement was strong in Gujarat with many important figures coming from here. The people were politically aware, but it didn’t lead to any significant social reforms.

Presently, the citizens who’ve left the state have set up businesses and developed roots in other places. The remittances contribute to ~1% of the state’s GDP.

Kerala

Known to have a state-led focus on human development parameters like health and education, creating a foundation for economic growth.

Princely states of Travancore and Kochi and the british controlled the region of present day Kerala in the 1800’s. When the Christian missionaries arriived they opened up schools. Seeing this the princely states followed suit and started providing free education. They also focussed on public health and vaccinations.

Travancore introduced private property rights to increase incentive for farming productivity. This led to a budget surplus which was invested in education and health.

Since the royal families were focussed on taking care of their subjects the freedom movement didn’t get a stronghold here. However, there was a focus on social reform for civil rights of the lower castes that was led by the non-varna Hindus.

Presently, even with high HDI scores, citizens leave the state to find opportunities elsewhere, but remittances from them contribute to ~14% of the state’s GDP.

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