1. INTRODUCTION All measurements of human development have put Kerala on top of all the major States of India. The Planning Commission of India has worked out the Human Development Index (HDI) at 0.638 for Kerala against 0.472 for All India, for the year 20011 . Kerala has the highest life Table 1.1 Domestic Product and Per Capita Income, Kerala/India expectancy, literacy and lowest infant (Rs. crore) mortality, though per capita monthly ITEM KERALA INDIA expenditure is not the highest. 2000-01 2001-02 2000-01 2001-02 In terms of Net Domestic Product, Net Domestic Product (NDP) At current prices 63,094 69,602 17,19,868 18,76,955 Keralas rank amongst States falls in the (10.8) (10.3) (8.9) (9.1) middle, though it holds the highest HDI At 1993-94 prices 34,450 36,079 10,62,616 11,23,543 rank. Per capita income of Kerala at (5.3) (4.7) (4.2) (5.7) Per Capita Income constant prices in 2001-02 was Rs. 11,046 At current prices 19,463 21310 16,707 17,978 crore. It was marginally higher than the (9.9) (9.5) (6.9) (7.6) per capita income for India (Rs.10,754 At 1993-94 prices 10,627 11046 10,306 10,754 (4.4) (3.9) (2.4) (4.3) crore). But the rate of growth in Kerala Source: Government of Kerala, State Planning Board, during this year was lesser than for India. Economic Review, 2002 Figures in brackets indicate change over the previous year. Kerala has a rich heritage of soco- economic development due to several factors. With a coastline of 590 kms., the State has had a rewarding maritime tradition. It has been trading with the Gulf countries for many Centuries, especially in spices. It has received the missionaries of Christianity since the first Century AD. Along with these missionaries came education and health care. The monarchs who ruled Kerala encouraged art and literature and made the same accessible to men and women alike. The southern part of Kerala under the Travancore and Cochin Maharajas could also boast of a good infrastructure of roads and irrigation systems, which ensured relatively higher prosperity for the people. South India in general and Kerala in particular was not subjected to the ravages of invaders and insecurity of life and property, as was the case in North India. The State of Kerala took off from a comparatively higher level of social development, when it was formed in 1956 under States Reorganization in India. 1 The HDI is a composite of variables capturing attainments in three dimensions of human development viz., economic, educational and health. These have been captured by per capita monthly expenditure adjusted for inequality; a combination of literacy rate and intensity of formal education; and a combination of life expectancy at age 1 and infant mortality rate. (1) Kerala squeezed between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea has a small share of the land area of the sub-continent. But blessed with rich land and abundant water and other resources, habitation has been intense, contributing to high density of population. The highlands of the State slope down from the Western Ghats which rise to an average height of 900 mts. with a number of peaks well over 1,800 mts. in altitude. The agro-climate of this region has been highly suitable for plantation crops tea, coffee and cardamom. The midlands situating between the highlands and the lowlands of the coast with rich but porous soil have sustained a wide variety of tree crops and spices coconut, arecanut, cashew, pepper, ginger, turmeric etc. The versatile rice crops are to be seen in all regions at various altitudes including the lowlands. The coastal region has a rich eco-system of deltaic and estuarian areas. These areas, together with the Arabian Sea front are rich in marine resources. Washed by 44 rivers and exposed to two monsoons, the State is doubly blessed and has a strong agrarian base for its economy. Industrial development has lagged behind with few large industrial units. The high potential for hydropower generation from its rivers has not translated into large investments of capital in manufacturing. The introduction of land reforms and abolition of tenancy brought in some kind of re-distributive justice and lower levels of poverty in the State. Of course, the land under plantation crops like tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom were exempted from the land ceiling provisions which excluded a substantial proportion of land from the impact of land reforms. It also caused deprivations to small landlords who were not actual cultivators. They had no other assets when they gave up ownership of land to the tenants, nor was employment easily available to them in the secondary and tertiary sectors in the State. The Namboodaries were specially one group that belonged to this class and suffered deprivations due to the change in their economic status. They were brought down to the lower middle class category from being jenmis (land lords) holding large extents of land. Land holdings in Kerala are very small. The average size of land holding now is 0.27 hectares. It is held by 62.97 lakh land holders. Land under food crop cultivation has also been declining rapidly with increasing population. The land under paddy cultivation has reduced from 8 lakh hectares to 3.22 lakh hectares. This has significantly reduced production of paddy as well as employment in agriculture. The most significant problem of Kerala is matching its human resource with the available employment opportunities in the State at the level of investment that is taking place. A significant proportion of the population migrates to other parts of the world and other parts of India for employment, which adds to the States Domestic Product, and is an important source of foreign exchange earning for the country. The levels of wages in Kerala are higher than most parts of the country. Workers from neighbouring States find it attractive to migrate into Kerala and take up many of the unskilled jobs and depress wage levels, making them less attractive for the educated manpower of Kerala. The problem of unemployment, particularly for the educated is most severe in the State. Women are more among the unemployed than men. (2) The administrative budget of Kerala under successive Governments of the earlier decades and Five Year Plans concentrated on education and health. Even now these sectors account for significant proportions of State Budget Expenditure. The people of Kerala follow different faiths Hinduism, Table 1.2 Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Numerically, the faith-mix of Faith Mix of Population India and Kerala the population of Kerala is strikingly different from that of Religion India Kerala India as a whole. Though the Hindus are the majority community, Hindus 82.00 57.28 their proportion in the population in the State is much lesser. Muslims 12.12 23.33 Muslims and Christians have a substantial presence. In the Christians 2.34 19.32 Muslim community there are both descendants of Arab merchants Sikhs 1.94 0.01 who married local women as well as native converts. There is Buddhists 0.96 - considerable diversity among Christians - Catholics and Jains 0.40 0.01 Protestants and among the Catholics, the Roman, Latin and Others 0.39 0.01 the Syrian. Religion not stated 0.05 0.04 Source: Registrar General and Census Like in other parts of India, the Hindu community is Commissioner, India, Census of India 1991, characterized by caste and community based stratification. State Profile 1991. The principal communities among the Hindus are Namboodiri Brahmins, Nairs, Ezhavas/Thiyas and Harijans consisting of several sub-castes/communities, pulayas and parayas. Depending upon community practices, the status of women also varied in different communities. The State is home only for a relatively small proportion of the adivasi population of the country. In the current mix of population in Kerala, Scheduled Tribes constitute only 1.1%. Similarly, the population of Scheduled Castes is around 9.9% which is comparatively a smaller proportion of the population compared to several other States. Historically, women in Kerala enjoyed a significantly higher status compared to most other parts of India. Some of the important factors which contributed to this were: ● Enlightened policies of the Governments of the erstwhile princely States; ● Access to education; ● Communitarianism of a high order; the community organizations of the Christians (the Church institutions), Hindus (the Nair Service Society and SNDP Yogam of Ezhavas) etc. organized their constituents, exposed them significantly to education, facilitated access to health and employment and created the necessary infrastructure for the purpose; ● The matrilineal system of inheritance of property which was also in the nature of affirmative system conducive to special protection for women; and ● Matrilocal residence of women after marriage with their spouses. (3) The beneficial impacts of the Demystified High Status of Women In Kerala joint family system and matriliny on ● In recent years, there are indications that the earlier advantages reflected in Keralas favourable female sex ratio cannot be taken for granted for the status of women have been any more. described in terms of strength and ● Mushroom growth of ultra sonagraphy clinics and evidence relating to abortions lend credibility to the possible practice of sex selective abortions. social security flowing from property ● There is serious concern in regard to masculinization of juvenile sex ratio, entitlement, freedom of socialization though it is much lesser than for All India; fertility decline experienced in Kerala may result in a masculinization of juvenile sex ratios through the without constraints on female visibility intensification effect.