> I wish I knew. I bet the CPI(M) wishes it knew, too. Here are some
> hypotheses:
> (2) Jyoti Basu in West Bengal invited in foreign investment, while the
> Left Front governments in Keral didn't.
How does the FDI adversely impact human development? China gets plenty of it.
> (3) Gulf remittances have allowed the governments in Kerala not to
> worry about the effects of high levels of government spending and a
> highly mobilized population on capital investment.
> (4) Much of Kerala was formerly composed of two princely states
> (Travancore and Cochin) with princes that were more progressive than the
> Brits were in Bengal.
> (5) What really distinguishes Kerala is that women have shared in the
> benefits of development, perhaps traceable to the influence of the
> matrilineal Nayar caste.
Yes. Further, churches have played a great role in building and running educational institutions, schools and colleges etc. Religious minorities are 40% of Kerala's population, Christians and Muslims are probably about 20% each.
> But I repeat, I'm just throwing out possibilities here. If I knew the
> NECESSARY conditions for performance like Kerala's, I'd be shouting them
> from the rooftops.
The performance of some states in human development is close to or even better than West Bengal: Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Andhra pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat. Though this is below Kerala's level. In these states, the Left is almost non existent.
On the other hand, some small states (Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur) are very close to Kerala norms. Here again the Left is missing.
Ulhas