Kerala is known to have a distinct rural-urban continuum, where the lines between villages and towns have long blurred, making the state resemble one continuous city. The state is now all set to launch a policy to address the expected increase in urban growth, which could be the first of its kind in India, which aims to provide a roadmap for the next 25 years.
Last year, Kerala became the first Indian state to set up an Urban Policy Commission through a state cabinet decision with financial assistance from the Centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). On December 18, the Kerala Urban Policy Commission (KUPC) submitted its interim report to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, focusing on boosting the economy, creating quality jobs and improving urban planning and governance. The final recommendations of the commission are expected by March 2025.
“Visually, Kerala is like an endless city,” said MB Rajesh, the state’s local self-government department minister. “This is the socio-economic reality of Kerala. We need to regulate this and take advantage of this continuity as an opportunity,” he said.
“Traditionally, Kerala has had a well-mixed rural and urban areas, resulting in an urban-rural continuum rather than being concentrated in a single town or city,” said Professor M. Satish Kumar of Queen’s University, Belfast and KUPC. It is characterized by scattered settlements. chairman.
“In the past, our only comprehensive policy was the National Urbanization Policy of 1988, which was developed under architect Charles Correa. However, there is no uniform policy for states,” he said, adding that Kerala’s policy is expected to serve as a lighthouse for other Indian states.
According to the 2011 census, 47.7% of Kerala’s population lived in urban areas, making it one of the most urbanized states in India after Goa, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. By 2035, more than 90% of the population is projected to be urban.
The 2011 census recorded an 83.82% decadal increase in Kerala’s urban population compared to the previous decade, mainly due to reclassification of rural areas as urban. It identified 461 census towns (CTs), which are administratively rural settlements but meet the criteria of urban areas with a population of more than 5,000, a density of 400 people per square kilometer and at least 75% male workforce. -Working in primary. Area Jobs.
Four years later, the United Democratic Front (UDF) government converted 42 of these into statutory towns (STs). The classification of CTs as statutory towns (STs) causes residents to lose access to rural funding linked to central schemes such as MNREGA, apart from the National Rural Health and Livelihood Mission. They also face higher taxes and strict building regulations, making the issue a political one.
The argument that CT would benefit from urban status through better public infrastructure has not been persuasive enough, primarily because rural areas of Kerala are generally well provisioned.
Kumar said unplanned urban development encroaches on productive agricultural lands and ecologically sensitive wetlands and uplands. In addition, unplanned expansion of settlements has to deal with the increasing frequency of storms and cyclones, leading to unseasonal rains and associated floods, landslides and stormwater surges.
Additionally, urbanization also increases challenges related to sanitation, solid waste management and maintenance of essential civic services. It is important to ensure that urbanization does not come at the expense of rural areas and keeping in mind environmentally sensitive areas, Kumar stressed, adding that regulation is necessary.
Institutionally, Kerala is in a better position than many other Indian states in terms of maintaining a rural-urban balance, said former state chief secretary SM Vijayanand.
“The same ministry looks after rural and urban areas. Additionally, the devolution of functions and finances to local bodies – municipalities and panchayats (28% of the state’s planned resources) is quite high.”
By focusing on providing quality health care and education in villages and towns alike, Kerala has performed exceptionally well on the Human Development Index. In recent years, it has topped the Sustainable Development Goals index of NITI Aayog. Life expectancy rates are remarkably high, and fertility rates have declined, slowing the population growth rate, which is now the lowest in India. In the last census, Kerala’s elderly population was 12.6%, while the national average was 8.6%.
Despite high literacy, youth unemployment rates in the state are among the highest in the country, and brain drain is a serious concern. At present, the financial condition of the state is in disarray. While the opposition accuses the government of mismanagement, the Kerala government attributes the crisis to inadequate financial transfers from the central government.
Rajesh said, “We have done a good job in controlling population growth and meeting the national target, but the central government is using it to discriminate against us because the transfer of funds is based on the population size of the states. ” “The issues—lifestyle diseases and the need for quality higher and technical education—require urgent solutions through adequate investment.
Migration for employment opportunities and foreign remittances – money sent by workers abroad to their families in Kerala – are long-standing trends in the state. In a paper published in the Indian Society of Labor Economics in 2020, development economists KP Kannan and KS Hari reported that the number of migrants increased from 100,000 in 1981 to 2.4 million by 2012, after which it declined to 2.12 million by 2019. Per capita remittances resulted in total remittances exceeding the state’s total revenue by 16%.
But the authors also highlighted a downside: consumption growth has not been matched by maintenance of a consistent tax-to-state income ratio, mainly due to reduced tax collection efficiency.
Most of the migrant capital in Kerala is directed towards personal ostentatious consumption, Kumar said. But it can be directed to public infrastructure with adequate incentives, transparency, clear returns on investment and a fair regulatory framework that works for all, he said.
KUPC recommends using municipal bond opportunities to raise private funds. Also, it suggests immediate updating of credit ratings for all the six major municipal corporations of Kerala.
However, this can happen only if local bodies are in the black. To improve the financial health of urban local bodies, KUPC’s recommendations include increasing their own source revenue from 25-35% to 70%, increasing property tax collection from 50% to 90%, GIS-based land and property inventory. Involves implementing tracking. Vacant land and building taxes, and exploration of land pooling for real estate development.
The decennial population census in India, which would have provided an accurate count of people living in rural and urban areas, has now been delayed by three years, with the KUPC relying on standard urban population estimates and urban spatial spread data provided by the Bhuvan portal . , a geospatial service operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Having eminent ISRO scientist YVN Krishna Murthy in the commission has been a “tremendous help”.
Kerala is densely populated due to its unique geography, where land comes at a premium. “Future projections suggest that urban agglomerations will move northward because there is room and scope for expansion in those areas,” Kumar said. The KUPC has also recommended setting up metropolitan committees in three cities – Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode – by 2025 as they have emerged as major representative urban centers in Kerala.
Establishing reforms required professionalism, and the Commission determined the appointment of city managers and information technology officers. Urban centers are often touted as engines of growth, yet Indian cities generally lack a voice in economic planning. To bring about change, the Commission proposed creating a Local Economic Development Authority under the Minister of Local Self Government Department, setting up Business Development Councils in all districts and cities and creating Local Economic Special Zones based on resource potential.
Its recommendations also include 25% job reservation for youth in municipal bodies to address the problem of unemployment among educated youth.
While Kerala cities may have missed out on the post-liberalisation IT boom that Bengaluru and Hyderabad cashed in on, there is now a significant push for a “knowledge economy” in urban policy. Rajesh is also confident of the state’s start-up ecosystem and tourism sector, which still has huge economic and employment potential.
“Due to ecological fragility and rising sea levels, there is little scope for setting up large industries. Land is scarce, and our population density is high. However, Kerala boasts of a better educated workforce, so creating employment opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sector is our priority,” he said.
To fight the challenges posed by climate change, KUPC is working on integrating critical climate-related data at different levels, implementing a multi-hazard early warning system, installing temporary flood barriers to protect high-risk areas, and supporting Western countries. Recommends promoting cooperation among states for security. Ghat. For decarbonization, it has sought mandatory carbon audits for corporations and MSMEs to promote a circular economy. Formulating and implementing risk-informed master plans for cities is also recommended with the hope that these measures will have a demonstrable impact on rural bodies as well, Kumar said.
