The Corona Virus Pandemic has shattered the Kerala Economy more than any other Indian states or foreign country. It is just a consumer society rather than producing economy concentrating more on dispersing salary and pension based on the foreign remittances of its workforce. For the survival and sustained growth of Kerala, five major strategies have been suggested. The New Kerala Model is not only useful for the entire India but also the entire world.

1. KERALA AFTER CORONA VIRUS
PANDEMIC - STRATEGIES FOR
SURVIVAL & GROWTH
DR. RAU M. MATHEW
(Dr. R. M. Mathew)

2. SHATTERED ECONOMY OF KERALA
• Corona Virus Pandemic shattered the Kerala Economy both internally and
externally, without any easy recovery. Kerala Model of Development or Survival
has been centered on generating income by mass migration of its workforce,
ignoring internal production of goods and minimizing the production or delivery of
services. Kerala has become notoriously a consumer economy, depending either
the other Indian states or even other countries for essential as well as luxury goods
and services.
• With the Corona Virus Pandemics and aftermath, Kerala is going to face a drainage
of up to 80% of the income flow from its nonresident workforces and acute
shortage of essential goods coming from other parts of India and countries. While
its workforce is away and busy with earning income, Kerala survives thanks to
unskilled or semiskilled workforces from other parts of India besides a large
number of workers from Bangladesh disguised as Bengalis.
• With the drainage of external income, Kerala cannot afford at least 90% of its
‘guest workforce’, that may have adverse impacts on the working of the Kerala
Economy, unless its own workforces fill up the vacuum . Any way Kerala has to
rehabilitate nearly half a million people returning from the Gulf, the West and
the rest of India. Kerala has to adopt a quite different way of life with large scale
production of goods and services, limiting ‘study abroad’ and migration of its
workforces to foreign countries. Another causality is the ‘Self-financing
Education’ Sector or Institutions, as Kerala cannot afford very expensive
Education.

3. UNPRECEDENTED RETURN OF NRI &
NRK WORKFORCE
• Kerala is soon going to face massive return of its migrant workforce
from the Gulf or GCC countries, the IT workforce from the West and
the loss of jobs for Kerala technical or professional workforce
employed in its Techno /Info Parks besides hundreds of small IT
units. Thousands of Keralities settled in other parts of India are
forced to resettle in Kerala.
• The income loss is in terms of Trillions of Dollars affecting adversely
its flourishing gold and textile business besides its construction
industries and real estate business. A slow death of Consumerism is
inevitable in Kerala, affecting more on liquor consumption,
consumption of luxury, beauty and pharmaceutical products. Kerala
cannot afford so much migrant or guest workers from other parts of
India, as the gulf returnees need to be accommodated or
rehabilitated with productive employment very soon.

4. SALARY & PENSION DISPERSING
GOVERNMENT
• Since its formation in 1957, Kerala has been ruled by either the
highly inefficient Left or Right United Fronts, always favoring
certain sections as vote banks without the bothering the social or
economic costs. As a result Kerala could not undertake any major
developmental activity, except the projects with high kick backs or
that facilitate big corruptions.
• Every government offers pensions even for undeserving cases
besides making large scale employment in the government or
public undertakings. As a result, the major activity of the
Government has been reduced into dispersing salary and pension.
However, Kerala is smart at the time of natural calamities and
pandemics mobilizing the entire governmental machinery and
mobilizing the general public., especially the Left. However, with
Corona Pandemics, Kerala is forced to downsize its workforce,
salary and pensions considerably.

5. DISRUPRETED FLOW OF GOODS TO
KERALA FROM THE REST OF INDIA
• The Corona Pandemic shattered the Agriculture
Sector in India especially Food Production. The
Indian states that concentrate on food production
and their export or marketing to the other Indian
states, especially Kerala, are forced to ban their
exports, as they could not meet the internal
demand. Within six months, Kerala is going to
face acute shortage of essential food items even
if it is ready to pay. With its reserve, Kerala can
survive just three months more, at the maximum
six months. Import of food products from other
countries is a remote possibility for Kerala.

6. STRATEGIES & POLICIES
• Just for the survival and growth, Kerala must formulate
and implement alternative strategies & policies, quite
different from the existing ones. They include: 1)
Ruralization & Agriculturization , including Aggressive
Food Production 2) Revolutionize Education and
Develop Entrepreneurship & Innovation 3)
Knowledgization or Knowledge Intensification,
including Setting up Knowledge Industrial Hub 4)
Massive Healthcare & Wellness Programs and 5)
Massive Application of Ayurveda, Developing Ayurveda
as a Global Medicine for Immunity and Wellness and
Setting up an Ayurveda Research & Teaching University

7. KERALA VALUES & EDUCATION –
REAL HANDICAPS
• Kerala with its self-defeating values and education system, spoil its
own people, reducing its education with the sole goal of getting
employed that too with white collar jobs, treating works in the
Agriculture or Primary and Secondary Sectors as Inferior with very
low wages.
• It is time for Kerala to formulate new Values and Objectives for the
entire Society and more specifically Education. Kerala society must
recognize every socially productive human labor or job is noble and
everybody is responsible to undertake such kind of job or labor.
Disparity in Wages or Salary between different jobs or labors must
be balanced. White collar or service sector jobs, especially IT must
be treated on a par with job or labor in the Agriculture or Industrial
Sector, based on Skill and Expertise. A Better Farmer or Farm
Laborer needs a lot of knowledge, including the latest scientific and
technical knowledge, Skill and Expertise, just like an IT Professional,
as Agriculture or Farming has become knowledge intensive.

8. REVOLUTIONIZE EDUCATION
• Time for Kerala to formulate New Objectives of Education for developing all-round personality of
the learner, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Crisis Management, Leadership Qualities so that
after education one can be an Entrepreneur, Innovator or Problem Solver rather than mere a job
seeker. We have to develop world class scientists, professionals and experts in many fields besides
thousands of skilled workers, professional supporting staff, administrators , creative thinkers and
artists. While closing down several conventional or outdated educational Institutions, Kerala has to
start several new educational institutions offering new brand of courses. The following works are
relevant :
• Apr 04, 2017- Revolutionize School Education Globally with ‘Dynamic School Knowledge Banks’
www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article58660.html
• Mar 19, 2016 - Delivering Quality Education for All Under the Threats of Islamic Terrorism, Refugee
Crisis and Budget Cuts http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article54496.html
• 27 Mar 2016 - Making Higher Education Affordable and Accessible to Millions Globally -The New
Strategies http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article54584.html
• 02 Feb 2014 - Education: Transforming The Most Unscientific And Mismanaged Industry Into A
Scientific, Competitive And Learner-Friendly Industry
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article44230.html
• Jan. 2010- Knowmatics – A New Revolution in Higher Education. Journal of the World Universities
Forum 4,1, 2010: 1-11 www.universities-Journal.com

9. RURALIZATION & AGRICULTURIZATION
• Kerala must take precautionary measures
against urbanization and growth of metro
cities by adopting the strategy of Ruralization
& Agriculturization that have been explained
in my following work : Ruralization and
Agriculturization – The Last Option for Survival
www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article58779.html.
This work is getting very popular especially
during the wide spread of Corona Pandemic

10. AGGRESSIVE FOOD PRODUCTION
• Every vacant land in Kerala including discarded tea, rubber,
coffee, spices estates and paddy fields besides the land
owned by religious organizations or educational institutions
or government offices, must be used for food production .
• Tapioca and Jack fruit plant cultivation can be undertaken
on a massive scale and also their processing. Along with
extending pineapple cultivation, care must be taken in their
processing and marketing.
• Vegetable & Fruit cultivation must be extended besides
transforming every household into a small vegetable or
fruit production unit so as to make Kerala a vegetable or
fruit exporter.
• Even fish farming can be carried out on a large scale. In
order to encourage meat production, large scale goat, beef,
poultry farms can be set up besides encouraging so many
households to start them on a small scale also.

11. KNOWLEDGIZATION OR KNOWLEDGE
INTENSFICATION
• The survival and development of Kerala is not based on the
earning of the non-resident Keralities but on
Knowledgization or Knowledge Intensification of every
human activity, especially social production processes such
as Farming or fishing, horticulture, small industrial or
business enterprises, arts and literature, education,
professional activities ,entertainments, even religious
services. They become 5 or 10 times more intensive with
the latest advanced knowledge, resulting greater
innovations and entrepreneurships.
• Knowledge Intensification demands the growth of
Knowledge Industries to deliver value added, highly
relevant, customized and easy to use Knowledge Modules,
Packages and Solutions as nobody is interested to waste
their time in searching the net or reading or referring books
or journals in libraries or listening the sermons or talks or
even attending conferences.

12. DEVELOP KERALA A GLOBAL
KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY HUB
• Kerala is very rich in Knowledge and Brain Power of its people,
especially the Youth, who can learn many new things with lesser
times and more efficiently, though under utilized for its values and
defective education and training. Kerala has a false sense that IT is
the last technology that saves Kerala. IT is just an Intermediate
Technology for developing Knowledge Processing Technology and
Knowledge Industry. Kerala is the most suitable place to emerge
as the Hub of the Global Knowledge Industries. The following
work is very much timely and relevant for Kerala:
• Oct 05, 2015 Redesigning Internet and Facebook to Explore Their
Full Potentialities and Empower the Humanity with Knowledge for
Finding Solutions for Its Problems
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article52547.html
• Dec.2016 ‘Developing Knowledge-Intensive Society and
Knowledge Industrial Hub in Kerala: Global Applications and
Implications’ www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article57480.html
•

13. HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS
• Kerala must reemphasize its healthcare and wellness,
giving emphasis to develop mass immunity or resistance
by improving the overall health and wellness of its citizen
and the society as a whole thereby reducing its
consumption of medicine or drugs or alcohol.
• The Best strategy for Kerala is exploring the full
potentialities of Ayurveda for well ness and immunity.
Kerala needs a world class Ayurveda Teaching & Research
University, giving emphasis to quality control &
standardization for diagnosing, treatment, production and
administration of medicine , documentation and above all
Globalization of Ayurveda. The author of this
presentation has already supervised a Doctoral Work on IT
Application for Modernization & Globalization of
Ayurveda, available in Calicut University.
• Along with Ayurveda, Kerala must explore the
potentialities of Yoga, Siddha, Unani and Naturopathy.

14. LARGE SCALE PRODUCTION OF HEALTHCARE
AND PARAMEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
• Corona Virus Pandemics proved that the Medical or
Healthcare Professionals, including Paramedical staff,
of Kerala and from Kerala are the best globally. There
will be a massive global demand for the Kerala
Healthcare professionals, including Paramedical staff.
Kerala must start several Education and Training
Institutes to meet the national and global needs. Kerala
must also concentrate on promoting Ayurveda globally
with well trained professionals and supporting staff,
besides producing and delivering standardized and
quality controlled Ayurveda medicines globally. Kerala
must start a world class Ayurveda Teaching & Research
University, as stated earlier.

15. KERALA TOWARDS INNOVATION &
SUSTAINED GROWTH
• The five major strategies proposed in this presentation
is intended to survive and attain sustained growth for
Kerala. Kerala must concentrate on Food Production &
Processing, Revolutionizing Education, Developing
Knowledge Industries even for the global markets,
launching Massive Healthcare Programs, including
promoting Ayurveda and Starting a World Class
Ayurveda teaching & research University even to cater
the global needs. The crises offer new opportunities for
innovation and the sustained growth of Kerala. We
have to build up a New Kerala and the New Kerala
Model shall be a Model for the International
Community.