Government
The Kerala Legislative Assembly Building in Thiruvananthapuram
The state's 2005–2006 budget was 219 billion INR.[73] The state government's tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) amounted to 111,248 million INR in 2005, up from 63,599 million in 2000. Its non-tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Kerala as assessed by the Indian Finance Commissions reached 10,809 million INR in 2005, nearly double the 6,847 million INR revenues of 2000.[74] However, Kerala's high ratio of taxation to gross state domestic product (GSDP) has not alleviated chronic budget deficits and unsustainable levels of government debt, impacting social services.[75]
The Legislature comprises the Governor of Kerala appointed by the President of India and the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The Governor has the power to summon and prorogue the Assembly or to dissolve the same. The Members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected once in 5 years.[76] Kerala hosts two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front (UDF—led by the Indian National Congress)and the Left Democratic Front (LDF—led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). At present, the LDF is the ruling coalition in government; V.S. Achuthanandan of the CPI(M) is the Chief Minister of Kerala and Oommen Chandy of the UDF is the Chief Opposition leader. Strikes, protests and marches are ubiquitous in Kerala due to the comparatively strong presence of labour unions.
Economy
Since independence, Kerala was managed as a democratic socialist welfare economy. Since the 1990s, liberalisation of the mixed economy allowed onerous Licence Raj restrictions against capitalism and foreign direct investment to be lightened, leading to economic expansion and job creation. In fiscal year 2007-2008, nominal gross state domestic product (GSDP) was Rs 162,414.79 crore (US$ 35.24 billion).[79] Recent GSDP growth (9.2% in 2004–2005 and 7.4% in 2003–2004) has been robust compared to historical averages (2.3% annually in the 1980s and between 5.1%[80]:8 and 5.99%[81] in the 1990s).[80]:8 The state clocked 8.93% growth in enterprises from 1998 to 2005 compared with 4.80% nationally.[82] Relatively few such enterprises are major corporations or manufacturers.[60] Kerala's Human Development Index rating is the highest in India.[83] This apparently paradoxical "Kerala phenomenon" or "Kerala model of development" of high human and low economic development results from the strong service sector.[60]:48[84]:1 Kerala's economy depends on emigrants working in foreign countries (mainly in the Persian Gulf countries such as United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia) and remittances annually contribute more than a fifth of GSDP.[13][14][15]
Rural women processing coir threads
The service sector (including tourism, public administration, banking and finance, transportation, and communications—63.8% of GSDP in 2002–2003) and the agricultural and fishing industries (together 17.2% of GSDP) dominate the economy.[81][85] Nearly half of Kerala's people are dependent on agriculture alone for income.[86] Some 600 varieties[62]:5 of rice (Kerala's most important staple food and cereal crop)[87]:5 are harvested from 3105.21 km² (a decline from 5883.4 km² in 1990)[87]:5 of paddy fields; 688,859 tonnes are produced per annum.[86] Other key crops include coconut (899,198 ha), tea, coffee (23% of Indian production,[88]:13 or 57,000 tonnes[88]:6–7), rubber, cashews, and spices—including pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Around 1.050 million fishermen haul an annual catch of 668,000 tonnes (1999–2000 estimate); 222 fishing villages are strung along the 590 km coast. Another 113 fishing villages dot the hinterland.
Traditional industries manufacturing such items as coir, handlooms, and handicrafts employ around one million people. Around 180,000 small-scale industries employ around 909,859 Keralites; 511 medium and large scale manufacturing firms are located in Kerala. A small mining sector (0.3% of GSDP)[85] involves extraction of ilmenite, kaolin, bauxite, silica, quartz, rutile, zircon, and sillimanite.[86] Home gardens and animal husbandry also provide work for hundreds of thousands of people. Other major sectors are tourism, manufacturing, and business process outsourcing. As of March 2002, Kerala's banking sector comprised 3341 local branches; each branch served 10,000 persons, lower than the national average of 16,000; the state has the third-highest bank penetration among Indian states.[89] Unemployment in 2007 was estimated at 9.4%;[90] underemployment, low employability of youths, and a 13.5% female participation rate are chronic issues.[91]:5, 13[92] Poverty rate figures range from 12.71%[93] to as high as 36%.[94] More than 45,000 residents live in slum conditions.[95]
The state treasury has suffered loss of thousands of millions of rupees thanks to the state staging over 100 hartals annually in recent times. A record total of 223 hartals were observed in 2006, resulting in a revenue loss of over Rs 2000 crore.
Visit for tour packages to Kerala
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