Kerala. Model state. Highest literacy. Best healthcare. Tourism paradise. That's what everyone says. But the real news reveals 4 cracks. The model state is cracking.
1. The Government School That Has No Students
Kerala has excellent government schools. But parents don't send their children. They send them to private English-medium schools. Even if they can't afford it.
A government school in a village has 20 students. It once had 200. English is the new divide.
Kerala's youth are leaving. To Dubai. To Saudi. To the US. For work. For money. For a future. A young man said: "There are no jobs here. There's a home, but it can't fill the stomach." The model state cannot model a job. Kerala's backwaters are famous. Tourists pay ₹5,000 for a houseboat. The water has plastic bottles, food wrappers, and sewage. Backwater pollution has been a concern for 10 years. The plastic stays. A young man in Kerala was offered a job in Dubai. He refused. He renovated his ancestral home. Started a homestay. Now tourists come to him. He says: "What's Dubai's money compared to the peace of your own land?" Kerala is a model. But models have cracks. Government schools with no students. Young people leaving in lakhs. Backwaters filled with plastic. And one young man who stayed. That's the Kerala you don't see.
2. The Young People Who Are Leaving — 1 Lakh Every Year
3. The Backwaters That Are Filled With Plastic
4. The Young Man Who Refused to Go to Dubai — Started a Homestay Instead
The Model State Is Cracking