The “Kerala model of development” is widely recognised and praised by many eminent economists and scholars. The “model” was first proposed in the 1970s, has been celebrated by many left-leaning economists, and was introduced as an “alternative” to the Gujarat model of development by some during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Many international media organisations have published articles praising the Kerala model, the most recent being The Washington Post, in an article titled ‘One of the few places where a communist can still dream’, gushing over the state’s successes.

While there was some mention of the foreign remittances and how it finances the state and its deficit (“More than a third of Kerala’s gross domestic product last year came from remittances.”), the article did not deal with it extensively and omitted some of the more alarming statistics. (Rather surprisingly, a 2007 article in the New York Times gets closer to reality.)

A close look at the numbers, however, reveals the absurd or deceptive nature of development in Kerala.

Granted, Kerala has achieved a stunning rate of success in implementing social programmes and come out with flying colours in all the metrics. However, what many ignore, knowingly or unknowingly, is the lack of an economic model, based on which the state’s social development stands.

The first point that proponents of the “Kerala model” bring up is the state’s high quality of life coinciding with low per capita incomes. What is concealed, of course, is that household remittances – the amount that a household receives for household sustenance, was a staggering Rs 25,000 crore, which explains Kerala’s high monthly per capita consumption, both in rural and urban areas. It is not hard to draw an inference that the high standard of living that the state has is a result of the remittances that the state receives.

What is even more stunning is the dependence of Kerala’s economy on remittances. The total remittances to the state account for around 36 per cent of the state's gross state domestic product (GSDP). Remittances are the single largest contributor to the state's GSDP. Kerala's economy is thus not based on economic progress; rather, it is based on the massive oil boom that happened in the Persian Gulf, where almost 90 per cent of the state’s people migrate.

This migration is not by choice; it is forced. There are little to no jobs that a skilled worker can hope to do in the state as there are few to no industries there. With government jobs being the preferred route of employment for those who stay back, the coaching institutions that promise to crack the "PSC examinations" are an industry of their own.

A look at some of the statistics from the Kerala Migration Survey 2014 will very clearly illustrate the point – the average age of the population is 35 years, while the average age of a migrant is 24.7 years. The 20-29 age group constitutes around 15 per cent of the population, and 30 per cent of the migrants are in this age group.

After all, the state ranks third in unemployment with 21.7 per cent youth without jobs in rural areas, while 18 per cent of urban youth is unemployed.

These (primarily young) migrants have a higher educational qualification, resulting in an alarming number of professionals and skilled workers from the state working outside.

To quote directly from the Kerala Migration Survey 2014,