“Why is India's most socially developed state - and one of the developing world's most advanced regions - an economic laggard?” Soutik Biswas asked this question recently on BBC and he sought to find an answer to it in his well written essay published on BBC website.

Take any “indicator” of progress – be it sex ratio, literacy, standard of living, maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, etc. - Kerala gives us the impression that it is on the top of the developmental pyramid. However, the reality is that the state is very poor. It is so strapped for cash that it can’t undertake large infrastructure projects. Its roads are narrow. Its cities are choked with traffic and solid wastes. Its waterways are strangled by weeds. Hospitals run by the government are so dirty that even the poor go to private hospitals. The educated youth of Kerala have learned to live with the inability of their state to provide them adequate jobs; they are happy to migrate to other states or countries.

Biswas identifies the main reason for Kerala’s woes: communism or socialism in it’s various forms have brought this state to its present deplorable condition.

Militant trade unions, strikes, protests, complete shut-downs, aversion to private entrepreneurship, stifling of private enterprises, failure to attract foreign direct investment, a climate of hostility towards foreign industries and corporates, opposition to mechanization or automation, etc., are the fruits of communism and socialism in this state. Add to this the constant demand for salary rise, lack of a healthy work culture, corruption, laziness, neglect of agricultural and industrial production, dependence on remittances from abroad, dependence on other states for milk, eggs, chicken, meat, vegetables, rice, wheat, textiles and garments, vehicles, medicines and even electricity! We thus have a perfect recipe for disaster.

A lot has been written and said about the impoverishment that communism has brought to Kerala and West Bengal not to mention the eastern European countries. However, things are no better in Kerala during the reign of the non-communist front. It is not easy to solve the problems created by political parties and governments.

Apart from that larger factors such as government policies, I feel that there are several factors at the individual level or at the level of families that lead to impoverishment. If the people of Kerala wish to bring about change in their perspectives and lifestyle, the state can come out of the various issues it faces now.

The Church has nothing to boast about in this regard. Of course, the church played a crucial role in bring about literacy, education and health care. However, the Church has been unable to stem the tide of communism. Besides, the Church failed in instilling Christian principles of hard work and industry in the minds of Kerala’s youth.

As Christians, we can reverse the bad trends in Kerala by bringing about small changes in our own lifestyle. For example, let every Christian in Kerala, “How much of the food that I eat was grown in Kerala? How much of it was grown by me?” If every family in Kerala can contribute a little towards agriculture or other economic activity, the state’s dependence on other states can be reduced drastically. Recently, there was such a shortage of milk in the state that the state government has to import milk powder from Ireland. What’s wrong with us? Are Keralites so sophisticated that they will not keep a cow or a buffalo to produce sufficient milk for the family and neighbourhood. The kind of “progress” we have made should be subject to scrutiny. We are ashamed of manual labour! We are reluctant to produce goods and wealth. Instead we will buy, we will spend. We need to reverse this consumerist trend through the active promotion of the dignity of labour and hard work. The Christian community can come forward to be the salt and light of this consumerist state.