Speaking
Notes of former Ambassador T.P.Sreenivasan for the Inaugural Address at the
First Anniversary of the Kerala Economic Association, Kochi on May 8, 2015.
I
am afraid my stepping into the shoes of the Chief Minister of Kerala to
inaugurate the annual Conference of the Kerala Economic Association is not very
appropriate. The only thing common between the Chief Minister and myself in
this context is that neither of us is an economist. Perhaps, the organizers did
not want an economist to inaugurate the Conference and thus the choice may have
fallen on me.
A
former President of France, Francois Mitterrand was asked as to how many books
on economics he had on his bookshelf and he answered “none!” I am not very
different as I have very few books on economics. Moreover, I have lived away
from Kerala for nearly 40 years and all that I know about Kerala’s economic
development is from paper. I have ben reading about the unique Kerala Model and
feeling proud of it.Having
come back to live in Kerala, I get the feeling that Kerala’s economic
development is more impressive on paper than in reality.
The
famed high literacy rate in Kerala has not translated into better educational
standards. We have just been through the SSLC results fiasco, revealing poor
educational standards and inadequate expertise in handling computers. Our
health indicators on paper do not match with the conditions in any Government
hospital. One wonders whether the Kerala Model refers to a bizarre anomaly that
the economists discovered in Kerala. With a fairly low economic growth, Kerala
managed to develop the educational and social sectors. This could be attributed
to the priorities of the rulers of Travancore and subsequent democratic
leaders, supported by the missionaries, social reformers and community leaders,
who gave special attention to education and health. One of them, Rani Gauri
Parvati Bai declared long ago that it was the responsibility of the state to
defray the cost of education of every citizen. The protests against the caste
system took the form of mass education reform, which also helped.
Kerala’s
achievements in health and education have received attention worldwide. In
spite of low per capita income, Kerala has low infant mortality, high literacy,
high life expectancy, access to education, poverty reduction, palliative care
and other indicators, which prompted a famous economist to remark, “Though
mostly a land of paddy covered plains, Kerala stands out as the Mount Everest
of social development.” It was the Kerala Model that led to the UN Development
Index, mainly because of the influential economist, Amartya Sen, who was an
admirer of the Kerala Model.
What
we have achieved may have impressed external observers, but we could have
achieved more if we had followed our tradition of tolerant pluralism and gender
equality. We seem to have developed a mindset somewhere down the line, which
resists change, even globalization, which has brought in opportunities and
challenges. The general resistance to change has pervaded all sectors,
including education. The stagnation and deterioration in the education system
is appalling. The other day, an educationist declared that he would not allow
any change in a particular college! This is when education is changing rapidly
in every part of the world and we remain frozen in time in many areas of
education. It is evident that a new political strategy is necessary to take the
state forward.
The
recent debate between two giant economists, Jagdish Bhagwati and Amartya Sen
was fascinating in the context of our development. Bhagwati attacked the Human
Development Index and argued that Kerala’s success in improving social outcomes
had little to do with state policies. He preferred the Gujarati model of
development, which focused on creation of prosperity and social spending. Sen
felt that the Gujarat model would increase inequalities and hurt the
minorities. The lesson we should learn from the debate is that we should strive
for economic growth, while preserving our tradition of social spending and better
distribution of wealth.
I
would go one step further and say that Kerala should aim at following a big
idea of Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH) as against Gross Domestic Product (GDP) put
forward in 1971 by a tiny country, Bhutan. The idea was seen as an oddity, but
now there is general recognition of this approach, which emphasizes the
spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of citizens. Bhutan has
made nature conservation and sustainability at the heart of the political
agenda. Bhutan’s record of doubling life expectancy, all children in schools,
equitable social development, cultural promotion and conservation of the
environment has given Bhutan the mythical status of a real life Shangri La. The
world has begun to recognize the idea of Gross Domestic Happiness.
I
am sure that the Kerala Economic Association will discuss these and other
issues at its annual session. I was surprised that the KEA is only a year old.
But apparently, Kerala economists have been active in the national level association
over the years. I am happy to inaugurate the Conference and wish you well in your
deliberations.
Thank
you.
--
T.P. Sreenivasan, (IFS 1967)
Former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA
Executive Vice-Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council,Former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA
Director General, Kerala International Centre.
Cell (91) 98
