Kerala — A Prelude to People’s Planning
This is more of a reflection around the book’s subject rather than the contents of the books itself as I felt it was best to ground my perspective before interrogating the text in full. Kerala is a state in India with a population of about 35 million and incredibly it has a Marxist government! This alone flies in the face of everything India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands for and the difference is evident when you look at the literacy rate and life expectancy of Kerala, which is the highest of all states in India and by a significant margin. The politics of India play a key part in world affairs and with a population of over 1.3 billion it has an enormous base of production and is a key market any other country must appeal to. Beyond this, I am fascinated by the powerful social movements and trade union action as it aims to improve people’s lives and create widespread change. I urge anyone who is not aware already to look into the ongoing farmers’ protests which involved a national strike of 250 million people!! This was unprecedented and I foresee much more occurring until conditions get better for farmers and other working people of India. I find it baffling that a government could neglect the backbone of its economy! Thankfully Kerala seems to look out for its citizens.
Kerala is beautiful to me because it is aiming to make the dreams of its people into a reality. There is a clear vision for how to build a society that can support the people and this was evident in the state’s incredibly rapid and effective coronavirus response which prioritised public health over the state economy. This wasn’t a one-off either, Kerala’s Left Democratic Front government has tackled the challenges of floods, Cyclone Ockhi and the Nipah virus in the last 5 years, showing that it is possible to effectively care for the most vulnerable even with limited funds to do so! Due to the government’s competent and compassionate handling of these crises, it looks likely that they will be re-elected and buck the anti-incumbency trend that started in the 1980s. This would allow for at least ten consecutive years to follow through on wealth distribution and infrastructure programmes that should improve the quality of life for everyone in the state. To me, this is a tantalising prospect and one that could really help to develop Kerala’s economic security and opportunity.
People’s Planning gives historical context to the basis behind the campaigns to mobilise young people, trade unions and women’s groups like the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) to initiate projects carried out on a local level, rather than relying on less personal, and less adequate, state interventions. The book looks to study the triumphs and challenges of decentralised government and the authors both have incredible insight into the project, Thomas Isaac being the current Finance Minister of Kerala. From what I already understand social change can occur but it requires a lot of work and takes a lot of time, it’s hard to imagine somewhere like the UK tolerating anything but immediate gratification for any effort but it’s the way it has to be. Continuing to explore this text should help me to understand what this could look like in practice!
I could have written much more but I need to get back to reading the book that inspired this piece of writing! I’ll probably write a proper love letter to Kerala at some point, and with elections occurring there very soon I will be watching it closely and have many thoughts on the subject.
