Kerala and the UAE

An interesting article that claims Kerala’s success is due in large part to Migrant Workers in the Gulf.

Kerala’s been a puzzle of a development success story. Although it remains really poor, human development indicators such as literacy, life expectancy, and infant mortality are very positive. Advocates for a Kerala model have argued this is because of increased government provision of healthcare and socialization of industry.

The article finds that a lack of jobs in Kerala has driven workers to the UAE, where they more than quintuple their salaries, but are far away from home. Without their remittances, there may have been several famines and about one in three Kerala residents is dependent on foreign income. In addition to the grimness of the plight of migrant workers in the UAE, this article may have sad implications for the replicability of the Kerala model.