Kochi, Kerala - A model for India and Afar: Learnings from my US State Department Professional Exchange
I am now on my second day in Kochi- a city of approximately 1.3M, within the biggest metropolitan area (3.4M) in the state of Kerala - as part of a US State Department Professional Exchange program, hosted by my fellow - Anu Maria Francis - who I had the pleasure of hosting in Philadelphia in May 2024. Kochi is rich with learning opportunities for an avid urbanist such as myself. What I have learned so far after meetings with Mr. Gokul TG, General Manager of the Kochi Metro Rail Authority; Mr. Adarsh Kumar, Director of the SCMS Institute for Road Safety and Transportation and his Deputy Director, Prathik Nayar, as well as my introductory meeting with Mr. D Dhanuraj, Chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Research (also Anu’s boss), is that Kochi fares much better in the space of social and economic equality than the rest of India. All of the people that I have met with in my first 24 hours mentioned incredibly high literacy rates, excellent healthcare, low infant mortality rates, and near zero poverty. I also am seeing firsthand the stark contrast of this bustling mercantile city with no sign of people soliciting money nor homeless residents, after seeing a very different situation in Delhi. I am very keen to understand how Kerala has accomplished this in a country where 129 million Indians are living in extreme poverty in 2024, on less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank. Check out these tables illustrating their outcomes in the Kerala State Planning Board Economic Review from 2017
It seems that this success is largely due to the “Kerala model”, which is centered in human development as a catalyst for economic and social progress. According to wikipedia, the Kerala model has been defined by the three bullets below:
A set of high material quality of life indicators coinciding with low per-capita incomes, both distributed across nearly the entire population of Kerala.
A set of wealth and resource redistribution programmes that have largely brought about the high material quality-of-life indicators.
High levels of political participation and activism among ordinary people along with substantial numbers of dedicated leaders at all levels.
Kerala’s focus on investing in people has clearly reaped strong results, despite the fact that when Kerala became a state in 1956, it was one of the poorest in India. In contrast, today the United Nations recognizes the Kerala model for consistently having scores comparable to developed countries since the inception of the Human Development Index (HRI) in 1990, which is included in the United Nations Development Programme's annual Human Development reports. The HRI is composed from data on life expectancy, education, and per-capita GDP.
Kerala has near 100% literacy rates due to its strong investment in public education for people of all backgrounds, from pre-K through college. (*Note- India has historically had a caste system, but Kerala offers education to all). When the state of Kerala was funded in 1956, the vast majority of schools were privately run and teachers had low salaries. Kerala converted nearly all (about 90%) to public schools, even covering the teacher salary of quasi-public schools (“aided schools”) and regulating their working conditions. According to a 2021 article titled “The Achievements and Challenges of the Kerala 'Model'” published in a publication called The Indian Forum, author Jayan Jose Thomas stated that during the period of 1980-81, Kerala’s social sector expenditure as a proportion of the total budgeted expenditure was 45.7% in Kerala, compared to an average of 29.8% for all Indian states. Kerala also touts numerous quality of life accolades as illustrated in this visual.
Poverty in Kochi is near non-existent with a recent article finding that about 500 households live in poverty (out of approximately 898,000 total households) in the city of Kochi and the poverty rate for the state of Kerala is a mere .5% according to the 2011-2025 census.
Kochi has invested significantly in public transportation infrastructure, including a metro system inaugurated in 2017 and a water metro (ferry) system launched in 2021. The city is now focused on first and last mile connectivity and intermodal connectivity, launching a fleet of fifteen new electric, climatized buses this very week, and investing in electric tuks tuks, owned by the public transport system and run through a cooperative. Other initiatives include training women to be drivers of the electric tuks tuks and intensive road safety initiatives.
Those I spoke with also referenced the Kerala Start Up Mission, a government initiative that has invested in startups and innovation, spurring entrepreneurship in Kochi, especially in tech. They also shared that there is a large focus on transitioning from high carbon energy sources to renewable energy, including robust EV infrastructure fueled by local startups, a proliferation of electric two-wheel and four-wheel EV adoption, as well as investing in retrofitting Kochi’s airport to be 100% renewable, powered by solar, one of few net-zero airports in the world!
From a workforce perspective, the investment in education and health has clearly fostered an abundant and highly skilled talent pool. Workers from Kerala have been able to capitalize on job opportunities, globalization, and tech opportunities, with many migrating to the Middle East and elsewhere to take lucrative employment opportunities. This migration has also posed challenges for Kerala due to a brain drain, however the remittance they have sent back, have also contributed significantly to Kerala’s economy. Further, the GDP of Kerala is very strong - positioned as the 11th largest economy in India, but the 6th largest GDP; many new jobs have been created through targeted investments in the information technology sector, its port and maritime industry, tourism and other sectors.
In addition to its brain drain challenge, Kerala does face some additional hurdles such as:
Kerala is restricted by the national government from being able to easily issue bonds and raise local revenue, which has contributed to a decrease in social spending due to constrained budgets;
Kerala’s birth rate is much lower than India’s and its workforce is aging impacting its labor force;
Despite the inclusive nature of Kerala’s investment in education and health, not all are equally experiencing the benefits. Specifically, people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes and the fishing communities have lagged behind the rest in educational and professional attainments, according to Thomas’ article;
Kerala also has many short-term migrants who come to work in construction and service jobs due to the fact that wages are significantly higher than in other parts of the country, however they often face social stratification and precarious living and working conditions;
Kerala is at risk of flooding because of its location next to the Malabar Coast and has seen a rise in flash floods due to global warming;
Women continue to be underrepresented in employment, in large part due to a patriarchal society, in spite of numerous gender inclusion efforts.
Despite these challenges at the state level, Kochi seems poised for success. In its most recent city plan, it lays out its vision as: ‘An economically productive, effective and egalitarian metropolis which will provide to all sections of society the desired level of services, and attract world wide attention as a preferred destination for Health care, Heritage, Tourism, IT and Port based services’.
How can you not love that vision? 😀
Later today I will be meeting with Chairman Balagopal Chandrasekar, leader of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. I look forward to learning more about how Kerala and Kochi are investing in building a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting startups and regional industry. My curiosity is already piqued from reading on their website in a section called “The Kerala Advantage” that “Kerala is an investor friendly and environmentally friendly state, where your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.” The website also prominently mentions Kerala’s investment in inclusiveness as a cornerstone of its development agenda, including improving educational standards, women empowerment and health care facilities for all residents. I will report back soon on further learnings!