How Kerala got rich

Education, Health, and the “Kerala Model”

• Commenters widely agree Kerala’s standout early investment was in mass literacy, schooling (including church-run schools), and public health, going back to 19th‑century reforms and land redistribution.
• High literacy and schooling are seen as enabling mobility and skilled migration, but several people stress that literacy alone doesn’t generate local wealth without industry.
• Some point out that literacy figures may be overstated and based on small samples, yet sociological work broadly supports that Kerala’s literacy is exceptionally high by Indian standards.

Remittances, Migration, and the Real Source of Wealth

• Many argue Kerala is “rich” mainly because of large-scale emigration to Gulf states and elsewhere, with remittances historically forming a very large share of state GDP (various numbers like 23–31% cited).
• Whole villages reportedly have big houses funded by “Kerala money” from abroad, often inhabited only by elderly relatives.
• Out‑migration of ambitious or educated youth is described as “aggressive”; Kerala “exports workforce, not products.” Some see this model as making it a great place to be poor, but a poor place to be ambitious.

Industry, Unions, and Business Climate

• Several recount that Kerala is notoriously hard to do business in: strong unions, practices like “nokku kooli,” and bureaucratic obstruction deter investment.
• Others counter that the private sector and startups have grown recently, with significant IT, healthcare, tourism, and many small firms, but few large manufacturing anchors.
• The article’s claim of “high startup concentration” is widely mocked as a half‑truth or propaganda unless backed by hard data.

Quality of Life, Environment, and Social Issues

• Positives: relatively clean compared to many Indian cities, lush landscape, functioning public hospitals, decent law and order, widespread small shops, and less fear of police. Many see it as one of India’s best places to live.
• Negatives: rising pollution (e.g., degraded lakes), climate‑driven flooding, high youth unemployment, serious drug problems, and heavy alcohol consumption. Some argue conditions have worsened versus previous decades.

Politics, Ideology, and Narratives

• The long‑ruling Communist/left front is credited by supporters with land reform, welfare, education, and effective COVID response; critics say the article is a leftist/neoliberal puff piece that ignores debt, unemployment, and crime.
• There is visible tension between those praising Kerala as proof that left‑leaning welfare plus market opening works, and those framing it as a remittance‑dependent, over‑unionized, economically fragile state.
• Several note that national right‑wing politics and Kerala’s resistance to them color how data about the state are selectively used or attacked.

Comparisons with Other Regions

• Some argue Kerala was never among India’s very poorest and already led HDI rankings by the 1980s; other “rags‑to‑riches” cases like Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh are proposed as more dramatic.
• Kerala is frequently contrasted with Gujarat (higher GDP, weaker HDI) and with Bihar (lacking similar education and health foundations), and likened metaphorically to “Finland of India.”