Amartya Sen calls for constant focus on labour

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The three-day ‘Kerala Looks Ahead’ (KLA) conclave which concluded here on Wednesday highlighted the need for public discussion that relies heavily on humanity and reasoning. Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen, who addressed the event, said a look at the successes and failures of Kerala will pin the focus on labour. “I would be personally very optimistic about Kerala looking to the future,” he noted.

He recalled that Kerala’s first government in 1957 triggered animated discussions when the Communist regime saw movements related to labour, antiuntouchability and education as major means of progress. “I think missionaries clearly played a role there too. So did the royalty in the two provinces that formed Kerala,” he said.

Kerala was one of India’s three poorest economies when the state was incepted six-anda- half decades ago, Prof Sen recalled. In a couple of decades, the state “not only moved away from that position, but was competing for being one of the top three in terms of per capita expenditure,” he added. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that KLA served two purposes. “First, it has stimulated national and international discussion between scholars and experts in the areas that were part of the conference. Second, many suggestions have emerged.

There are issues of long-term and strategic interest to the state and also recommendations regarding policies that can be implemented in the short run.” The Kerala administration will study the suggestions, which have come from all over the world, to look at ways in which they can be incorporated into policy, the Chief Minister said in the valedictory session of the virtual conclave organised by the State Planning Board. The 22 sessions on nine key sectors got an ‘overwhelming response’ from experts across the world.