THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION-LED GROWTH ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT A CASE-STUDY OF MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, KERALA A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jafar. K 2013 School of Social Sciences National Institute of Advanced Studies Indian Institute of Science Campus Bangalore, India 560012 Certificate The research embodied in this thesis entitled ‘The Impact of Education-Led Growth on Human Development: A Case-Study of Malappuram District, Kerala’, submitted to Manipal University (Reg No. 090900033) was conducted by Jafar. K in the School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies under the supervision and guidance of Prof. Narendar Pani and advice and approval of the members of the Doctoral Advisory Committee. It is hereby certificated that the thesis submitted is a bona fide record of research done by the candidate in fulfilment of the requirement for Ph.D degree, and that the thesis has not previously formed the basis for the award to the candidate of any degree, diploma, fellowship or any other similar title of any other university or society. Place: Bangalore __________________________ Date: __________________ Prof. Narendar Pani (Advisor) ii Declaration I hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis entitled, ‘The Impact of Education-Led Growth on Human Development: A Case-Study of Malappuram District, Kerala’ has been carried out under the guidance of Prof. Narendar Pani and has not formed the basis for the award of any other degree, diploma or fellowship previously. The particulars given in this thesis are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Place: Bangalore __________________________ Date: __________________ Jafar. K iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I praise and thank the almighty for having provided me this opportunity to resume my formal education, and for having made it possible to go from being a high school drop-out to finishing doctoral studies. This would not have been possible without the support and motivation that I received from people around me in one way or another. I express my sincere gratitude to Narendar Pani, Professor, School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore for guiding my doctoral study. His encouragement and guidance gave me enough confidence to engage with this study; which is a shift from the theme I had originally prepared. Thus, I have received his guidance from the very beginning to the final draft of the thesis. On the personal front too, I have been fortunate to have his support whenever I was in need. This has made my doctoral studies and student life memorable; and will remain a source of continuing inspiration. Besides my advisor, the encouragement and insightful comments which I received from my advisory committee members were very useful. I am indebted to PK Michael Tharakan, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Kannur, Kerala, for his valuable comments from the early stages to the completion of this work. I am grateful to PK Shetty (Professor, NIAS) for his continuous support and insights that I received during the study. I would like to express my very sincere gratitude to Chidambaran Iyer, (Assistant Professor, NIAS) for providing valuable comments at various stages of the work. I am thankful to him for going through several drafts of my writings, particularly while I was revising one of the manuscripts for publication. I have been privileged to have VS Ramamurthy (Director, NIAS), Anindya Sinha (Dean- Academic Affairs, NIAS) Shivali Tukdeo (PhD Co-ordinator, NIAS) in my Doctoral Advisory Committee to provide timely guidance on issues related to my doctoral work at NIAS. I thank my previous DAC members Dilip R. Ahuja, Carol Upadhya and Rajesh Kasturirangan for their interest, and insights in my work. I am grateful to our previous director K Kasturirangan and BV Sreekantan for their encouragement and support which I received at different stages. iv I am indebted to other faculty members of NIAS, including the visiting faculties and former faculty members for their affectionate advice and valuable suggestions. Among others, I owe special thanks to Lalitha Sundaresan, MG Narasimhan, N Shantha Mohan, Anitha BK, Sindhu Radhakrishna, and Ambassador Saurabh Kumar. With much admiration and gratitude I remember Ramani sir, for his special company and technical support which kept me and my computer updated and backed up. I am thankful to the insightful comments and helps received from Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan and Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay; both post-doc friends in NIAS. I have received timely help from Hamsa Kalyani, Vijayalakshmi, and other library staff members. I extend my sincere thanks to the members of NIAS administrative staff, especially to Srinivas Aithal, Sandhya, Shashi, Ramesh Mariyammal, Stella and Ramakrishna for their support. Thanks to Nandu and Binoy for their cheerful company and homely support for the six long years of my Bangalore life. I am particularly indebted to Naresh for having taken the trouble of going through the drafts of the thesis and helping me in preparation of the final manuscript. I thank my other friends, who have been a great source of motivation and remain a memorable part of my student life at NIAS. Special thanks for the company of Sowjanya, Sreeja, Asha, Mayukh, Anu, Kishore, Sajini and their families. I was fortunate to have wonderful people as my colleagues and friends; thanks to Indira, Rahul, Sailen, Murugan, Rishi, Shubho, Narayan, Swarnali, Nithin, Arun, Meera, Leena, Rajani, Sahana and Robin. I thank Lakshmi, Rolla, Hema, Sanam, Neesha, Maithreyi, Samiksha, Meera, Namitha, Nalini, Asmitha, Shreejata, Sulagna, Chetan, Soundarya, Priyam, Shatarupa, Priya, Murali, Sanket, Anamika and others for their support. Other friends who worked in NIAS at different periods of my stay at NIAS also have been memorable. The time spent with them on regular coffee-breaks, badminton, cooking and long discussions made my work less burdensome and days colourful. Thanks to Sreeja, Maneesh, little Aagi, Madhu, Sunnichan and family for their friendship. I have had the great pleasure of being with several people who supported me and helped in reaching this phase. I have been fortunate to have wonderful teachers-formal and informal- who taught me things in different ways. They inspired me to celebrate my consistency whenever I failed to make any progress. Among them, I cannot forget two of my high school teachers Sudha and Sheeba; whose care and patience made my out-of- school days shorter. I thank the anonymous doctor who identified my urge to go back to school and convinced my dear ones about the same. Other teachers, friends and family too extended their help in restarting my schooling. v I extent my words of gratitude to VOC and its supporters for the help received during my post- matric education. I owe special thanks to my teachers CK Haneef and TH Said Muhammed; and to my friends Mansoor, Aslam, Sabiq, Sageer, Nowfel and others. The living memories of NK Riyas, who left many wonderful dreams around my project and the place covered under the study. I treat this study as a homage to him and his unfinished dreams. Special thanks to Shihab for being a good friend on my way and for inspiring many into higher studies. I am grateful to the other friends from IC Talikulam, students, teachers and other staff members have supported me in several ways. With thanks I remember the support which I have received from Santinagar friends. I thank my friends from JMC: Bhavya, Sreejith, Simi, Remya, Sham, Gijith and others for their support and company. With gratitude I remember the support I got from the department teachers, special thanks to Shyjan sir and his family. His support and encouragement have been the key sources of inspiration for my higher studies. Although for a short period, I was fortunate to discuss my work and get guidance form teachers and senior scholars from CDS; special thanks to Sunil Mani, K Pushpangadan, M Parameswaran and Hari Kurup. My CDS friends Kunhi, Nirmal, Suma, Prabhu, Rajesh, Syam, Midhun, Beena, Ameerka, Jayachandran, Harilal, Sunil and others have been very helpful at various stages of the study. I thank V Santhakumar for his support during the final stage. I am particularly indebted to K Rajesh from ISEC for his engagement and suggestions at various stages of the study. Thanks to Benson and Justine for being such a wonderful friends. During the course of this study, I have received support from many libraries and concerned departments. The library staffs of CDS, GIFT, AG’s Office, Secretariat, State Planning Board, and the State Legislative Assembly at Thiruvananthapuram have been very kind to allow me to access their resources. Special thanks to Anil Kumar sir and Lachita for their help. The concerned officers at the district planning board office of Malappuram, and authorities of Taluk and block panchayat offices of Perinthalmanna, Nilambur, Tirur and Ponnani also helped in collecting the required information. The support offered by the gram panchayat presidents, secretaries, elected ward members and other office staffs in the sample gram panchayat has been wonderful. With greater thanks I remember my friends, local leaders and the respondents from the field who took the trouble to make my stay and study comfortable in the villages. At various stages of my stay in these villages, I was very fortunate to get many friends and they made my time spent in field-work the most wonderful days of my doctoral life. vi My family, especially the silent support of my parents has inspired me in several ways. Unfortunately, I lost both of them during the early stage of this study and this long journey stands as a tribute to them. Without the support I received from my elder brothers and sisters, this journey would not have been possible.