The Kerala model refers to the policy decisions made by the State of Kerala which is supposed to be characterised by strong social indicators when compared to the rest of the country such as high literacy and life expectancy rates, highly improved access to healthcare and low infant mortality and birth rates.
The term grew in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, at first used as praise for the way the Kerala government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Health Minister KK Shailaja handled the first waves of the pandemic by testing widely and keeping mortality rates low.
However, it is now more commonly used by social media users to deride the State apparatus for its seeming inability to keep the Test Positivity Rate low after the second wave of COVID even when the rest of the country seemed to be recovering.
Source: Barandbench
