Kerala, has an estimated population of 35 million people and ranks highest in the Human Development Index of all Indian States, based on several “quality-of-life” practices adopted by the State Government. These parameters include public health, primary health care, education, poverty-reduction, sanitation, decentralized governance etc.
With the ongoing struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation, Kerala earned praise for their containment strategy, robust healthcare system, community engagement and sustained efforts in dealing with the pandemic. The biggest advantage of Kerala is the high rate of literacy and health awareness which makes communication to the people more effective. People wore masks, stayed at home and followed all the guidelines. Kerala was probably the only state where the police did not use a lathi to keep people at home.
The now-famed ‘Kerala Model’ is recognized as being unique and the state continues to be referred as a model state to follow, learn from its experiences, adopt relevant features and develop their own customized models. The term ‘Kerala Model’ was coined with reference to a case study conducted by the Centre of Development Studies at Thiruvananthapuram with the help of the United Nations in the 1970s.
The Kerala Model is based on practices adopted in the areas of health, education and quality of life of the people. Making healthcare affordable and accessible for all by providing low-cost health care and availability to the poor sections of the society remains the primary focus. Although Kerala has a low per capita income, a large slab of its resources is spent on the social development of its people.
Rs. 20,000 crore package to tide over the economic crisis
Kerala was the first state to sanction an economic package of Rs. 20,000 crore when the rest of the country was preparing for the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Janata Curfew’. The package included Rs. 500 crore for the health sector, Rs. 1000 crore for rural guarantee programs and Rs. 2000 crore loans to support the needy through the self-help groups of Kudumbashree Mission. In addition, Rs. 1320 crore to pay-out welfare pensions in advance, Rs. 100 crore earmarked for social security pensions and Rs. 100 crore set aside for free rations to all families in the state irrespective of social standings.
Furthermore, delivery of free lunches to school children, setting-up low-cost food canteens across the state to serve meals at Rs. 20 and another Rs. 14,000 crore to clear pending arrears. In addition, the State Government announced an entertainment tax waiver to cinema houses, an extension of 1 month to clear consumer water and electricity bills and working with service providers for better network connectivity and Internet even in the remote areas.
Practical foresight and tactical proactive approaches
Kerala was the first state in India to record a COVID-19 infection case in January 2020. The state’s prompt proactive measures of conducting airport screening, contact tracing, preparing route maps of people returning from overseas, imposing a 28 days quarantine period, mandatory isolation and cordoning-off potential clusters were the biggest takeaways at the initial stages.
With the coronavirus sweeping across the world into at least 114 countries with tens and thousands of cases within a couple of months and more than 4000 deaths to the disease, the WHO officially declared the coronavirus a “pandemic” on 11 March 2020. A day before the announcement of the pandemic, Kerala escalated their measures by banning public gatherings and shutting-down all educational institutions and entertainment centres in the State to avoid cluster cases or community transmissions.
Based on their past experience in managing and merits of containing the 2018 Nipah outbreak, Kerala immediately went on an overdrive with their baseline preparations to combat the spread of the virus in the State. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister Shailaja have been hands-on in leading the fight against COVID-19 by working in tandem with the Government at all levels and other stakeholders on the ground.
Mobilization of Resources on the ground to support strategic exercises
Health workers at the panchayat level were engaged in contact-tracing exercises in their respective areas. The measures included detailed route maps to enable tracking of infected people, arranging movements of food grains for community kitchens and maintaining hygiene and social distancing at village level. The panchayats became active hubs for local monitoring and taking care of the welfare of the returnees.
Teachers and volunteers were also recruited for monitoring people in home quarantine round the clock. A GPS tracking system was also installed to track violators. The primary focus being mental health of those quarantined at homes, the State Government opened multiple 24×7 call centres to provide psychological support. A special team was set-up to monitor rail and road entry points. Teachers were also called to man border points to scrutinize every document of returnees.
Following the announcement of closure of Anganwadi centers, the government is now reaching out to every home of the Anganwadis and delivering rice, pulses, oil and snacks on a weekly basis to its children at their homes. Children under 3, adolescents, pregnant and lactating mothers are being provided with supplementary nutrients.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India along with a public sector company started mass production of hand sanitizers. While prison official’s ensured prisoners were engaged in making face masks, women of the Kudumbashree Mission too made reusable cotton face masks.
The internet service providers were asked to increase connectivity by 30-40% to meet the surge in demand. Kerala was also the first state to receive the first batch of RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) rapid testing kits.
A humane approach to Kerala’s “Guest Workers”
Kerala has 18,912 camps, the highest number of state-run relief camps for over 3 lakh guest workers. On 29 March, hundreds of them poured into the streets demanding they be sent back to their home states. Authorities acted swiftly and convinced them to return to the camps set up for them.
In an effort to deal with large numbers, the guest workers are split into categories of organized, unorganized and jobless with camps set up in their workplaces and construction sites. Their diets have been changed to cater to different palates and regular supply of rice, pulses and other provisions is being supplied to all camps. The Government has also provided the workers with sanitizers, masks, medicines, tied-up with a service provider to make sure proper signals at the camps so they can connect with their families and a recharge of Rs. 100-200 on their phones.
The Health Department has deployed mobile clinics with doctors and nurses and ensures regular monitoring of their health. Call centers set-up in 5 languages – work 24×7 to offer guidance and address concerns.
Kerala has around 5 lakh guest workers currently registered under the State Insurance Scheme and eligible for other government facilities covering insurance claim of up to Rs. 5 lakhs for accidents and disabilities, medicines worth Rs. 15,000 in a year and can avail free treatment of Rs. 25,000 in designated government hospitals. Kerala is the first state to offer insurance cover in 2010 to all guest workers.
Leadership – Communication, Creating Public Awareness and encouraging Community/Social Support and involvement
Daily press conferences are held by the Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister, K.K. Shailaja to report new cases, update new measures if any and urge people to follow norms and not spread unverified information instead use the Government launched GOKDirect app for updates on the outbreak. Regular reporting on the ground realities and the well channelized line of communication right from the Accredited Social Health Activities (ASHA) workers to the CM.
The Health Department recently launched ‘breaking the chain’ campaign to encourage hand sanitizing or washing hands with soap and maintaining personal hygiene. The state also received an overwhelming response for volunteers to help the Health Department at borders who are provided special training to deal with the protocols.
Kerala is currently dealing with a sudden surge in cases with the increasing numbers of returning expats and workers commuting across its borders. Kerala is also preparing for the 4 month-long monsoon season and likelihood of floods and landslides. With the experience of having battled floods in the last two years, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has already laid-out specific plans to survive any natural disaster amid the ongoing pandemic.
Notably, Kerala is relying on the strengths of its health system, leadership and commitment at all levels both Government, private and the community at large to fight this unprecedented battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. But the moot question is, can Kerala sustain on just its exceptionally high levels of achievements on the social development front?
The State is staring at unemployment with the return of jobless Gulf returnees, devastating consequences of flooding – loss of livelihood and property, water-borne diseases and other challenging issues. Can Kerala overlook the need for fiscal support to boost its economy?
