Budget Time: What Kerala refuses to learn!

Every year, the Indian Federal Budget comes and goes. And not just the States ruled by the Party or Front in power at the Centre, but other frontline States with strategic weight too get handsome bounty from the very same Centre which the Regional satraps pillory.

To complete the story, at the end of the sound and fury in the Parliament, some states that are constantly sidelined cry aloud and make faces. Kerala is mostly in such a plight.

Even when the entire contingent of twenty Lok Sabha MPs from Kerala were from the ruling front, Kerala never got much from the Centre and never stopped crying after the budget rituals.

Why is it that the State, euphemised as ‘God’s Own Country' end up in such a sad state?

The truth is that while most states in India have progressed much on federal competitiveness, Kerala has always been caught in the grip of romantic socialism. Entrepreneurship, Investment and Capital have always been assigned a strong negative connotation in the psyche of the average Malayali. Hence, there is an all-round leisurely and easy-paced indifference to hard work, healthy competition and risk-taking.

Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, is a case study in pragmatic use of aggressive federal identity, and they have positioned themselves as an indispensable partner in the Indian story of manufacturing, trade and commerce.   

The latest uproar about the current budget proposals laid by the Finance Minister in the Parliament is that Kerala was given a raw deal when it came to the proposed national network of high-speed rail connectivity.

But those who mouth the narrative should pause and ask themselves whether, apart from routine passenger traffic, there is any strategic logistical and supply chain necessity for fast rail connectivity to Kerala? With hardly any industrial investment of a critical mass, Kerala probably cannot justify the massive national deployment of public wealth in building the infrastructure for high speed rail network.

When it comes to projects already cleared for the State, tardy land acquisition and bureaucratic procedural wrangles result in massive delays and huge inflation of the project cost from the estimated levels.

Unless Kerala can assure the larger nation that it has the capability, willingness and commitment to manage huge infrastructure projects promptly and efficiently, there is hardly any use crying over lost opportunities.

India has changed a lot. Today, you must compete with professional, young and focused political leadership in most Southern states for resources. Especially, Andhra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu provide a powerful competitive challenge that Kerala, with its time-worn anti-Centre mindset, can effectively face up to.

True, Kerala gets a pittance when it comes to the deployment of funds and the national strategic projects pipeline. But unless the State changes its mindset and puts forth political and bureaucratic leadership in tandem, the battle for visibility and resource allocation would be more lost than won.

South India is the bulwark of political power play in today's India. The North may have more parliamentary seats. But the key southern states are critical to the evolution of Viksit Bharat. Kerala has the talent, but not much political will and shrewd bargaining capability. 

How long can we brush problems under the carpet?