Why are Keralans better of than other Indians?

There are many reasons why the people in Kerala have a better standard of living than in other Indian states. Some of the reasons are to do with nature and some are to do with human decisions.

The State of Kerala is good for farming. There are many natural advantages, for example large amounts of precipitation, with 120-140 rainy days per year, Kerala has a wet, tropical climate, consequently making the soil incredibly fertile. The climate is very humid and wet, which is perfect to grow crops.

A map of India:

The government of Kerala made some unusual decisions about how to run the state. They introduced ‘land reform,’ which basically means the government give every family one hectare of land each. The government prevent the rich to own more then 10 hectares by buying the land off them, as a result everyone gets an opportunity to own something, this then gives the poor starting points to earn money, whereas in other Indian states the poor stay poor because they do not receive the level of help required. Over 1.5 million homeless families benefited from land reform. Land reform Meant Keralans could grow food on their properties for consumption (for survival) and sell it for a better standard of living.

Many Keralans have stopped growing only rice and now have a greater variety of crops. Keralans now grow tapioca, ginger, banana’s and coconuts. Farmers sell less rice because the rice from the state of Tamil Nadu is significantly cheaper because the workers get paid a considerably smaller wage. Keralans want to grow more profitable crops to be able to pay for after school classes for their children. Growing one hectare of rice gets only 25, 000 rupees but growing coconuts make 50, 000 rupees. Coconut palms, as an example, have many different uses. Coconuts can be used sell or consume, (ear or drink the juices). Used to make cosmetics, fuel for cooking, the residue from making oil is used for cattle food. Coconuts are useful for making mats and ropes. Coconut leaves are used to thatch roofs.

Keralans are better educated than other Indians. Keralans are given free education, I personally think this is a beneficial idea to educate the children because they are the future, the Keralans are thinking about the long-term effects of a free education whereas the other Indian states do not give education unless the citizens give money. The Keralan government provide free education, however the classes are exceptionally large, as a result the children would not get the right amount of education necessary.

This is why parents work hard on farms to produce the best quality of crops. Selling as much as possible and getting the largest possible yield means more money, that way the children have a better chance of doing well academically. Well educated Keralans get the opportunity to work abroad as they get more money this way, hence, wages for farm labourers are higher in Kerala than in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, as fewer workers are available. Money is sent home from abroad, for that reason, the Keralans have money to spend, they can afford manufactured goods and this encourages new businesses to start up. New jobs means more jobs available in Kerala other than farming which is very hard and tiring. Parents do not want their children to do that. People with jobs have a better standard of living. This all leads to a developed, better state for the people of Kerala to live in.

I think that the state of Kerala is more developed than other parts of India because they can afford to spend money on manufactured goods, meaning more businesses are likely to start up. Because of this new jobs are available for the children that are not very intelligent or that did badly at school. The Keralan government realise that educating children is a necessity because when they are old and ill and need a doctor it will be one of those children, so in the future everyone benefits from this.