It would be unfair to call Kerala a ‘basket case’.
Many of the things that Balaji Viswanathan ( as given in the description) calls Kerala’s natural strengths are not natural strengths. People from outside Kerala take most of these things for granted. The high social development in Kerala was not bestowed upon Kerala by some “God” but achieved through direct political action. Therefore it would also be incorrect to draw a correlation between the high social indicators and economic development in Kerala. It did not flow from the economic uplift of the people, but through political action. That is the reason why despite low GSDP figures, Kerala tops in Human Development Indicators.
Consider connectivity, which has been described as a natural strength of Kerala. Kerala is cut into 44 pieces by its fast flowing 44 rivers. It is not a natural strength. This has been overcome through investment in development of infrastructure, thus ensuring connectivity. Today Kerala has among the highest density of Roads in India. Therefore, I would first urge that we should not take what Kerala is today, for granted.
Right from education to land reforms to social change, everything in Kerala happened due to Social Reform movements and political action. Those who lament the “commie mindset” of Kerala, and shower blame on it for the lack of economic development, fail to understand that it was exactly that mindset that resulted in the social development that you see in Kerala. ( It is also incorrect to label the Kerala mindset as “commie” mindset. Keralites are averse to feudalistic tendencies and question everything. I think a much better term is “humanist” mindset.) This was not developed overnight, but took decades of political action and awareness campaigns. It was not the left alone that helped in making Kerala what it is today. If you have been following Kerala, you will know that every 5 years there is a swing from Left to Right. It is ignorance to label all Keralites as “commies”.
This direct political action also resulted in the rise of a high awareness of rights and a certain carelessness about duties. There also arose political collectiveness in every area which also resulted in Trade Unionism and in many cases these went to an extreme. This did hinder development.
It also needs to be understood that Kerala is one of the most densely populated regions in India. The state is also located in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the entire country which means development has to be undertaken with caution. This would mean that it cannot have manufacturing units and factories as easily as it can be set up in States like Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. Even the slightest disturbance to the ecosystem can evoke sharp political action. A very good example is the Birla Mavoor Gwalior Rayons set up in 1960’s which was heavily polluting the Chaliyar River. A time when the rest of India was running behind factories, people in Kerala took to protests to shut down the factory.
As for the people in Kerala and their migratory tendencies, it would be incorrect to equate it with a lack of jobs back home, alone. Keralites have been a migratory and entrepreneurial lot, right from time immemorial. These cultural traits have only been reinforced with the passage of time and even today, Kerala is the largest migratory community in India.
As for the status of women, it can be said with confidence that it is better than elsewhere in India. It would be unfair to seperately view Kerala from conditions prevailing elsewhere in the country. Kerala too has a patriarchal society and all the problems associated with patriarchy would be visible there too. However, it is much much ahead when compared to other states of India. The marriage age of women is higher, the fertility rate is lesser and the educational status of women is better than men. The fact that the number of crimes reported by women is higher than the rest of India, indicates that they have the confidence to do it without fearing the wrath of the society.
All that being said, I am not saying that everything is rosy in Kerala. Kerala, has its own share of problems. It has a very high unemployment rate, lower manufacturing base etc. It also has many strengths like its strong service industry, diaspora, educated people etc. Its problems can be solved by tailoring solutions that would fit its special case.
However, calling it a basket case, would be like calling Gujarat a gone case because of it low social development indicators despite its economic development, or TamilNadu hopeless because of its political culture or freebeeism or Bihar or UP the same due to feudalistic tendencies.