Articles by T M Thomas Isaac

Kerala has been successful in containing COVID-19 and in achieving a low rate of spread, high recovery, and low fatality. The importance of the public health system, social capital and the active involvement of the people through local governments that played a significant role in Kerala’s success is highlighted. A brief historical review of the evolution of public health system and local governments in Kerala is also attempted.

The state of cooperative federalism in India is analysed by focusing on the trends in vertical fiscal imbalances between the centre and the states, the impact of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management acts on the fiscal space of the states, the implications of the Terms of Reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, and the need for empowering local governments in the context of centre–state relations.

This paper investigates the unusual phenomenon of state governments currently maintaining large cash balances even as many important sectors call for substantial outlays. Is it a governance issue, as the union finance ministry makes it out to be, or is it something more fundamental affecting the fiscal powers of state governments? We argue that the constraint on expenditure is imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Acts passed by the centre and most state governments; the cash surplus phenomenon is a perverse outcome of such legislation. This essay also investigates the price paid by Kerala, an outlier where receipts do not keep pace with expenditure growth, because of the mechanical constraints imposed by the fiscal responsibility legislation.

People's Campaign for Decentralised Planning in Kerala T M Thomas Isaac K N Harilal Despite the acclaimed advantages of decentralisation of planning and repeated commitments made in its favour, the planning process in India has remained a highly centralised affair. None of the departmental exercises - so-called district plans, block level planning or area level programmes has been able to ensure genuine planning from below, sensitive as such planning should be to complex local-specific problems and felt needs of the people.

Alleppey Coir Workers during Inter-War Period T M Thomas Isaac The formation of the working class cannot be considered complete till workers become aware of the social relationship which defines their common identity as well as the conflicts arising therefrom. The emergence of political consciousness, unlike trade union consciousness, requires conscious intervention and is related to the totality of social relations and traditions in which the wage-labour relationship is embedded.