Kerala 2.0 — a call to reclaim the State’s future

Kerala stands at a crossroads. For too long, we have watched the slow unravelling of a State once hailed as a model of human development. Today, the signs of distress are unmistakable: mounting debt, ecological collapse, fiscal disarray and a governance culture that too often drifts between bankrupt inertia and partisan improvisation. Yet, amid the gloom, I refuse to succumb to cynicism. I believe Kerala can rise again — if we summon the courage to confront hard truths and embrace bold reforms. This is a call to action. #### The list of issues Let us begin with the numbers. Kerala’s debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels, driven not by strategic investment but by a pattern of borrowing to plug routine deficits, even (towards the end of the year) to pay salaries and pensions. Kerala today spends more on debt servicing than on development projects. The State’s reliance on remittances, liquor taxes and lotteries — an emblem of desperation — has become a substitute for sound fiscal planning. Goods and Services Tax (GST) leakages and inefficiencies in tax collection further erode its revenue base. And the lack of jobs and record levels of youth unemployment are driving Kerala’s young people to other States or abroad. We need to attract the job-generating investments that will keep them here. But the crisis is also moral. We have allowed a culture of entitlement to take root, where subsidies are expected, accountability is evaded, and the dignity of labour is too often distorted into coercion. The Malayali work ethic, a source of pride outside Kerala, has been dulled within the State by years of political patronage and bureaucratic complacency. We must abolish extortion-based labour practices such as nokkukooli, ban the invidious coercion of hartals, rediscover the value of effort, the nobility of enterprise, and the joy of creating rather than merely consuming. This renewal begins with governance. Kerala needs a government that listens, learns, and leads — not one that merely promotes its own cadres. We must restore institutional integrity, empower local bodies and ensure that public servants serve the public, not party interests. Transparency must be more than a slogan; it must be a daily practice. From procurement to appointments, the people deserve to know how decisions are made and why. And we must confront a deeper malaise: the politicisation of everything. Even the most routine administrative decisions are often filtered through partisan lenses. This has eroded public trust and stifled innovation. When every appointment, transfer or policy tweak becomes a political battleground, governance suffers. We need to depoliticise the bureaucracy, protect merit and restore the primacy of public interest over party interest. Equally urgent is the need to dismantle the thicket of over-regulation that chokes enterprise. We have all learned painfully how well-meaning rules often morph into barriers — discouraging investment, delaying approvals and disincentivising initiative. Kerala must move from a culture of control to one of facilitation. Let us slash 75% of our regulations, streamline bureaucratic procedures so that files do not take months to be cleared, simplify all government approvals under a single-window “One Kerala Permit” system for farmers, entrepreneurs and builders, digitise governance, and empower citizens to act — not wait endlessly for decisions. #### The need to think beyond remittances We must also rethink our economic model. Kerala cannot thrive on remittances and retail alone. We need to nurture industries that reflect our strengths — knowledge, creativity and sustainability. Let us invest in green technologies, promote high-tech agro-processing, and support startups that seize new opportunities (biogenetics, rare earths and minerals, eco-tourism, space tech, Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing) to solve 21st century problems. High-tech value-added products and precision manufacturing, maritime and port development, export of marine products, and development of supply chains and logistics hubs need to be further explored. We must support women entrepreneurs with micro finance and digital training. We must mobilise our citizenry, including non-resident Indians, by launching a Kerala Savings Mission encouraging citizens to invest in State development bonds. We should attract back skilled Malayali professionals from abroad through incentives and recognition. And, we must give investors the security of an ‘Investor Protection Act’ to ensure that their capital will not be lost for non-market-related reasons. Tourism must be reimagined not as a spectacle but as an immersive experience rooted in culture and community. Our strengths in health care and wellness could make Kerala a major centre for medical tourism spanning allopathic, ayurvedic and other forms of holistic healing. Above all, we must take pride in what we produce — from coir to code — and ensure that “Made in Kerala” becomes a mark of excellence. Education and health have long been Kerala’s crown jewels. But even these are tarnishing. Our schools and colleges must prepare students not just for examinations but for life — for critical thinking, civic engagement and global citizenship. Internships should be available even during the academic year, to connect students to the real world. Our hospitals must be equipped not just with infrastructure but with compassion. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed both our strengths and our vulnerabilities. Let us learn from it and build resilient systems that serve all, especially the most vulnerable. Culture, too, must be reclaimed. Kerala’s pluralism is its soul. In a time of rising intolerance, we must reaffirm our commitment to coexistence, dialogue and mutual respect. The legacy of Sree Narayana Guru (the subject of my new book) reminds us that true progress lies not in division but in upliftment. Let us teach our children not just history but empathy — not just heritage but hope. And we must not neglect immediate problems affecting the quality of life of the average Keralite. Kerala must urgently confront three escalating crises that threaten both public safety and social cohesion: environment, drugs and dogs. Our ecology groans under the weight of unchecked quarrying, sand mining and encroachments that threaten our rivers and forests. A “Clean & Green Kerala Mission 2030” is overdue. Tackling the drug crisis among our youth requires a multi-pronged approach — from celebrity-led awareness campaigns to ensuring that de-addiction centres function effectively and compassionately. Meanwhile, the stray dog menace affecting citizens across age groups, especially children, has taken a deadly turn: by August 2025 alone, 23 people had died from rabies, with troubling reports of fatalities even after post-exposure vaccination. The Animal Birth Control programme must be implemented with vigour. These are not fringe concerns — they are daily anxieties for ordinary Keralites. Addressing them with seriousness is indispensable. #### Begin the rebuilding For too long, Kerala’s political discourse has been trapped in binaries — Left versus Right, secular versus communal, Congress versus Communist, but nothing seems to change. Yet, the real divide is between cynicism and possibility. I choose possibility. I believe politics can be a noble vocation, rooted in service and guided by principle. I believe leaders must earn trust not through slogans but through substantive work. This vision is not mine alone. It is shaped by conversations with farmers and fisherfolk, teachers and traders, nurses and nuns, bureaucrats and politicians. It reflects the aspirations of youth who want opportunity without leaving home, and of elders who want dignity without dependence. It is informed by the diaspora, whose love for Kerala is matched only by their frustration at its stagnation. To them — and to all Malayalis — I say: the time for passive lament is over. The time for active renewal has come. Let us build a Kerala that is fiscally prudent, ecologically resilient, economically vibrant, and socially just. Let us move “beyond cynicism” (the title of an exciting new book on the way forward for Kerala) and reclaim the promise of our land. Not with nostalgia, but with vision; not with rhetoric, but with resolve; not with division, but with unity. Kerala deserves nothing less. Shashi Tharoor is a a fourth-term Member of Parliament (Congress) for Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha) and a Member of the Congress Working Committee Published - December 20, 2025 12:16 am IST ### Related Topics Kerala / development / government debt / environmental issues / government / taxes and duties / employment / labour / politics / rare earths / minerals / eco-tourism / space programme / technology (general) / Artificial Intelligence / waterway and maritime transport / gender / online / medicine