COVID-19: Social democracy and dividends for Kerala

POLITY/ GOVERNANCE/ SOCIETY

Topic: General Studies 2 & 3:

• Devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein. 
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors 
• The role of NGOs, SHGs and various groups

COVID-19: Social democracy and dividends for Kerala

Context: Kerala was the first State with a recorded case of coronavirus 

Given Kerala’s population density, deep connections to the global economy and the high international mobility of its citizens, it was primed to be COVID-19 hotspot.

However, Kerala has been able to effectively contain the pandemic leading to flattened coronavirus curve (refer the image below).

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th April 2020

Image Source: India Today

Kerala’s ability to effectively tackle crisis is attributed to its robust Social Democracy

What is Social Democracy and what are its features?

• Social democracies are built on an encompassing social pact with a political commitment to providing basic welfare and broad-based opportunity to all citizens
• It supports practical, progressive reforms of capitalism (free-market economy) and is more concerned to administrate and humanize it — a key difference with Socialism which detests free-market economy
• The emphasis is on State interventions to promote Social Justice — a key difference with Capitalism
• Presence of vibrant Civil Society and robust institutions that checks State’s actions
• Values of Liberalism, tolerance and decentralisation is promoted
• Treats people not as subjects or clients, but as rights-bearing citizens.
• Social Democracy can thus be considered as mid-path between Socialism and Capitalism. 
• Majority of countries in the world have adopted this model with the differing inclination towards free-market economy or State interference

How did Social Democratic Culture emerge in Kerala?

It emerged from recurrent episodes of popular mobilisation 

• Temple entry movement of the 1930s
• Peasant and workers’ movements in the 1950s and 1960s, 
• Mass literacy movement in the 1980s, 
• Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP)-led movement for people’s decentralised planning in the 1990s
• Recent gender and environmental movements

Advantages of Social Democracy- which is reflected in the state of Kerala

• Nurtures a strong sense of social citizenship 
• Builds Institutions: Social Democracy drives reforms that strengthens the legal and institutional capacity for public action
• Emphasis on rights-based welfare instead of clientele/patronage based welfare
• Reinforces a vibrant, organised civil society which demands continuous accountability from authority
• It pressures all governments, regardless of the political party in power, to deliver public services and to constantly expand the social safety net.
• Pressurises to empower local government – Nowhere in India are local governments as resourced and as capable as in Kerala

• Generalised Trust on the State, which enables heightened compliance with State’s directives

How was Kerala able to manage the pandemic effectively?

• Due to its strong Social Democratic Culture, the government was able to
  • Convince citizens to comply with State’s directives (Enhanced Trust on State)
  • Quickly mobilise financial and societal resources – Announced COVID-19 package much ahead of National relief package 
  • Smoothly coordinate across multiple authorities and jurisdictions – Creation of State response team that coordinated 18 different functional teams
• Effective Communication: Daily press conferences with the public by CM to ensure the connect with public and to remind the public that virus does not discriminate, destigmatising the pandemic.
• Social Issue: Government emphasised lockdown response was less an enforcement issue than about people’s participation

• Leverage a broad and dense health-care system: Despite the recent growth of private health services, Kerala has maintained a robust public presence. 

• Taking into the confidence the front-line workers: Kerala’s public health-care workers are highly unionised and organised which made the government lay emphasis on protecting the health of first responders.

• Highly mobilised civil society- As the cases multiplied, the government called on two lakh volunteers to go door to door, identifying those at risk and those in need.

• Food Needs taken care of:  Government was able to deliver three lakh meals a day through Kudumbasree (Self-Help group) community kitchens 
• Last Mile Care: Two decades of empowering local governments in Kerala enabled in focalising containment efforts in hotspots

Conclusion

• The pandemic is a physical exam of the social body, and never has public trust been put to a greater test.
• Kerala has managed the crisis by building on legacies of egalitarianism, social rights and public trust

Connecting the dots:

• Socialism with Chinese characteristics
• Delhi model of development (during AAP government’s tenure)