VISION 2010

The true wealth of a nation is its people – and the true aim of its existence is the total well being of its people . No nation can ever truly achieve a perfect or “Utopian” status . However a constant effort to improve the physical and mental well being of its citizen to achieve a reasonable state of well being is the essential function of a Modern Nation .
A Developed Nation is one which is able to achieve what is possible by any human effort elsewhere in the World . A developed nation will nurture its citizen to develop their individual potential to the maximum possible . Its citizen will proud to be living in such a nation and will be rendering all their effort to sustain it and hand over to their future generations.


Kerala should try to develop its natural and human resources through sustained and sustainable efforts. Development should be “inclusive” and “environment friendly” .
Sustained efforts imply continuity in projects and programmes even in changing political affiliation of Governments . Sustainable development means judicious utilization and value addition of all resources with replenishment of what is possible .Inclusive implies reaching the fruits of development to all strata of society . And ultimately if all the development means creating a unlivable Earth it will defeat the very purpose of development .

Kerala like the other states of India has our own distinctive features – our nature , our people and our language . We should identify and develop businesses and business models which will not degrade the famed natural beauty of our home state .This is our most important treasure and it should take precedence over any other priorities . It should not destroyed for mere short term gains . The challenge is to generate wealth from our land and its treasures for the present generation while nor forgetting the truth that we are mere custodians of it today and it must be preserved for the future generations .

We have tried with the famed “Kerala Model” for achieving socio-economic development .While we succeeded in the social sector to an extent we could not get through in the economy front .Now we realize that the achievements in the social front cannot be sustained without parallel advancements in economy.
In the past couple of centuries the Global economy has transitioned itself by changing its base from Agriculture to Industry to Service sector to Knowledge . While the developing countries are still in Agriculture or industry based economy ,the shift to service base has happened in the developed countries in past half century and now they are in the path to a Knowledge based economy .
In our country we are caught up in a mixture of the old and new co-existing . While the vast majority lives with agriculture and traditional industries , industrialization is taking place at a fast pace in some areas ,while the service based economy is gradually emerging as the most important contributor to GDP. And now in very recent times ,the Knowledge based economy is in the driving seat .
The true state of any Indian citizen is such that he can live in any segment of this economy depending on the circumstances he is born and brought up and what he is able to achieve on his own . In Kerala also we have the majority living from first generation economic activities .However now, the sector which contributes maximum to the GDP is the service sector ,our industrial base being weak. We have only a small contribution from Knowledge based sectors as of now.
The World economy has transitioned itself from agriculture-industrial base to the service sector and is now becoming a Knowledge based one .The challenge is to create another “Kerala Model” which will help us integrate our economy with the World economy and thereby propelling Keralites to become the “World Citizens” as compelled by the dynamics of “Globalization” and “Economic liberalization” . For that we will have to leap frog from the present economic base to one that is Knowledge based in the shortest time possible (?by 2020)

The issue is to built on our strengths and identify our weaknesses. We should exploit the opportunities and plan in advance taking into consideration the possible threats ( SWOT analysis ).
The most important strength of Kerala society is social and human development . We have a great tradition of religious tolerance and assimilation .There is gradual assimilation ,give and take between the various religions for the past 20 centuries in this land .It has resulted in distinctive traditions in ethics , dress, religious and social ceremonies , art and architecture . What this has given us is a great model of “Kerala Man and women” in all the three important religions to present before the world and one which we are right fully proud of .

In the last century we made significant strides in land redistribution , social equality (removing untouchability and other caste barriers ) and in education especially female literacy . The high Human Development Index is the result of sustained activities for the half century after independence .We still have to go a long way in creating a truly egalitarian society .

While in social development we are far ahead of rest of India ,in economic development we are yet to get off the mark.
The factors of land distribution , high population density and lack of any substantial earth resources hampered our Industrial development in the smock-stack era .
So we failed to build an economy based on industry or commerce .Our economy is now solely driven by the external remittances. Simply ,we are living in a land of debt and debit (draft and overdraft economy) .



Can we build a Knowledge based, market driven and ecologically sustainable economy ? Can we develop a new development model which will integrate all these factors?