The worst deluge in a century has devastated Kerala. Now, the focus is on rebuilding the state. However, it must not be restricted to reinstating damaged infrastructure. The state must go beyond that and should use the setback as an opportunity for effecting a paradigm shift in the approach to development and industrialisation.Broadly speaking, there were three phases in Kerala’s development. The first was when the agrarian structure was recast through land reforms when limits to landholding was prescribed and land was redistributed.
Then came the process of setting up of modern industries that began during the regime of the Travancore maharaja with electricity generation at Pallivasal, followed by starting of FACT, Punalur Paper Mills, Travancore Rayons, Forest Industries (Travancore) and Aluminium Industries, Kundara. At the same time, Malabar region became the hub of textile and wood-based industries.
Post-Independence was the third phase, when there was a spurt in private and public investment. The takeover of FACT by the Central government, establishment of HMT’s Cochin unit, Cochin Shipyard, Cochin Refineries, Mavoor Rayons, Toshiba Anand Batteries, Malabar Cements, Travancore Titanium Products and Travancore Cochin Chemicals marked the arrival of manufacturing industries and large-scale capital investment in the state.
Creating structures and institutions for formal management-labour relationship was a new experience in the state. These developments also coincided with historical political changes. Though individual opinions of the management and trade union leadership are well-recorded, the story of decline of some of these companies is not well-researched and documented. To chart a new course, it is necessary for learning lessons from the past.
Change in the air
For building a new Kerala, the largest capital available is the newfound unity and harmony among the people. The rejection of an overdose of politics and rivalry, which was characteristic of the society, was evident all through the rescue and rehabilitation process.
The Nava Kerala development policy should be...
● in harmony with nature. The development paradigm of levelling hills and filling wetlands is no more an option.
● focused on application of technology on a much wider scale than at present.
● in tune with the aspirations and educational levels and skill levels of the workforce, both male and female.
● one that evolves a new value system and work culture in all segments, particularly the government sector.
In the first phase of industrial development, policies were oriented towards giving and protecting employment to unskilled labourers, who formed the bulk of the workforce. The state has to move away from this approach and should strive to become a hub for entrepreneurs aspire to invest in new technologies.
Apart from information technology, opportunities are emerging in fields such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, aerospace and defence. The state will be a key player in the next manufacturing revolution that does not feature any heavy polluting industries.
Inviting and incentivising entrepreneurs engaged in advanced and future technologies should be a long-term policy for developing a knowledge and skill-based society, rather than face a redundancy of old technologies. The services sector, which accounts for 60 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product, can be the hunting ground of white-collar aspirants.
As far as the state enterprises are concerned, changing the management structure in the immediate future may not be practical. But cutting the umbilical cord to the Secretariat and professionalising management would improve matters a lot. Adversarial labour-management relation has to transform to constructive cooperation.
In agriculture, the landscape has substantially changed after the floods. The sector is substantially using green revolution technology as in most parts of the country. The state has to introduce post green revolution technologies and cropping patterns, taking into account the impact of climate change.
For Nava Kerala, more than anything else, a shift in the society’s attitude towards work and a healthy relationship among vertically divided groups, which was amply demonstrated during the floods, is needed. But actions such as calling a bandh or blockading institutions like Technopark even before the waters have receded from all parts of the state send out wrong signals.(The writer is former CMD of FACT and former president of All India Management Association.)