Kerala's Vision 2030 plan takes Nordic economies as model

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Entering the third year in office later this month, Congress-led UDF Government in Kerala is coming out with a Perspective Plan to achieve high growth and social security, benchmarking it against Nordic economies that give thrust to both progress and social care.

The long-term plan, whose draft is to be drawn up shortly, would be discussed among political parties, youth and other stake-holders before giving final shape, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Planning Board Vice-Chairman K M Chandrasekhar said during an interaction with journalists here today.

The document, being prepared by the state Planning Board with technical assistance from the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research, would be the basis for implementation of a series of initiatives to foster sustained growth of the state over the next 20 years, they said.

The ultimate aim of the plan would be to enhance the annual per capita income from the present $ 4,700 to $ 36,000, ensure a compound growth rate of 7.5 per cent, besides setting growth rate targets for various sectors like griculture (2 pc), manufacturing and construction (9 pc each), communication (7 pc) and education and health sectors (10 pc).

The target is to make Kerala a global hub for education by increasing the share of these sectors to 10 per cent of the GDP from the current 5 to 6 pc.

Chandy said this was for the first time that any government in Kerala was coming out with a long-term plan despite the mandate of the ministry being five years.

He expressed the confidence that the opposition parties would respond to the idea positively making their suggestions to improve it.

The development model of Nordic countries is taken as a benchmark as these economies give thrust to both development and social security. This would not mean that the plan would be oblivious to several features that sharply vary from the Nordic countries in the case of Kerala, Chandrasekhar said.