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Wow, "all" is a big word. As I just found out, childcare is a massive and quickly growing market. There is a large spectrum from established startups with significant shares of the market alongside small, regional apps attempting to get footholds with specific niches. Below is a curated, extensive (50+) list with brief self-descriptions pulled from AngelList, CrunchBase, and other places -- far, far from exhaustive still, but an earnest attempt to answer this question in full.First, the big three. These are the names that repeatedly come up in the babysitting on demand tech space:UrbanSitter - A San Francisco-based service and app that allows parents to search for, book, pay, review, and recommend babysitters and nannies via connecting with Facebook for reviews from trusted local organizations and neighbors. UrbanSitter allows both parents and babysitters to create user accounts for free. Services start with scheduled interviews and then a pay-as-you-go fee or by subscribing to a monthly or annual membership. Of the top three, UrbanSitter has the cheapest subscription fee and plenty of nice features like finding sitters your friends are using. Babysitters can find and accept jobs for free or subscribe to a monthly or annual membership to receive a background check as well as other features. Notably, UrbanSitter has been prominently featured in publications including Wired, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Mashable, and the company raised ~$22.75M in funding and has 20+ employees.Sittercity (Chime) - Started in Chicago in 2001, Sittercity is an established national website connecting families, individuals and corporate employees with local in-home care which include babysitters, nanny, pet sitters, and tutors. Notably, the platform currently has over one million registered caregivers and lots of established tools like rates recommendations for your area, checklists, background checks, and other resources. Sittercity raised $43.6M in 4 rounds of funding to date with 60+ employees. In mid 2015, Sittercity launched its app Chime, so parents can schedule a sitter in advance or find one last minute and re-book favorites. Of the three, it seems best for finding sitters on the go with discounts and comes with free membership for military.Care.com - As a publicly traded corporation since early 2014, this platform doesn't quite qualify as a startup technically but still operates roughly at the same scale as middle-sized tech startups. Launched in 2007 outside Boston, Care was the fastest growing player of these three. It is a platform for child care, senior care, special needs care, tutoring, pet care, housekeeping, and other care-taking services for 9.7M users internationally, $111M in funding, $57M in annual revenue, and 540+ employees. Users can search, post jobs and look at caregiver profiles for free. Then they can pay a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription fee to contact caregivers and get background checks. The site also helps people find job opportunities in their area by posting a free profile and applying to openings, and expanded into enterprise offerings for companies like Google and Facebook.UrbanSitter, Sittercity, and Care take the lions' share of the market but the global market is massive yet locally fragmented. Many rising upstarts are quickly gaining traction and finding niches in novel ways of establishing trust, providing meaningful services, or cater to very specific regional markets. A small portion of these are solid startups with a growing track record. Another portion are just sincere ideas in app form, still very much finding their way and looking for funding or better product-market-fit. Some may even be deprecated startups, graduated into small local businesses or abandoned pages. But here's the complete list of relevant startups found online.Helpr - "delivers babysitters to your door, on demand"SeekingSitters - "easy, safe babysitting solutions"mom trusted - "social marketplace for early education and care, connects childcare and preschool providers to the 25M moms who use their services"CareGuide - "portfolio of focused marketplaces for everyday care services including Sitter.com, Housekeeper.com, PetSitter.com, ElderCare.com, and HouseSitter.com"myBestHelper - "just-in-time flexible mobile global solution to manage child, elder and illness care"CareZone - "simplifies the lives of those caring for children, partners and aging parents; provides a simple and entirely private environment where family and helpers can stay organized and coordinated"Sitter - "Uber meets LinkedIn for babysitters; simplifies the process of scheduling and paying your own sitters, saving you the hassles of overlapping texts, phone calls, and sitters flaking out"CareBooker - "platform for finding, booking, and paying for all types of family care services, such as babysitting, pet care, tutoring & lessons"SittingAround - "sitters post availability and book jobs online -- managing their babysitting work like a business"ZumiCare - "allows parents to find, screen, and manage the scheduling of university-affiliated babysitters"SafetySitters - "concierge, customized premium in-home care, 24 hours every day, to select families by forging a trusted relationship using prescreened caregivers"Sittr - "parents can search, book and pay for their sitters through web, iOS, and Android"Trusted - "childcare services on-demand"SEP Solutions - "helps parents easily care for their newborn without worrying about safety or well-being, and enabling them to share via smart tools"CARE-ON - "trusted marketplace for caring services where you can find, list and book with the best and closest caregivers in your area"QloudSitter - "real-times collaborative parenting with public and private caregivers"Kamunity - "mobile application that connects parents and pet owners to local sitters who have gone through a multi-step vetting process"Raised in the neighborhood - "a social network for parents to help babysitting/playdates swaps"Babysitting.today - "app for parents which helps them find a babysitter for their children quickly and effectively"Serving Mothers - "social media website for mothers to find quality service providers in their area for childcare and other services"PayMySitter - "simple way for families to book and pay trusted sitters"Carerfy - " on demand carer service which connects families with trusted care companions for people with disabilities, the elderly and childcare needs"CollegeCare/CityCare - "iOS app that allows parents to book childcare services from a local university, mostly made up of highly qualified nursing students"MommyMaiDD Services - "match-making services for parenting assistants, babysitters, nannies, domestic assistants, and disability caregivers who match the families needs"Now Nanny - "on-demand child care service that provides family with fully-vetted and experience sitters"Poppins - "mobile app for reliable, affordable, on-demand child care"Usitterz - "mobile app for childcare services"Invitekids - "share childcare with other parents"ChipperSitter - "On demand babysitting, review video profiles and click to book"Understudy Sitters - "concierge for babysitting"Neoporter - "access to a group of highly qualified, vetted and local undergraduate sitters"Personal Assistant Plus - "affordable home and concierge services"Additional ones focused more on other sides of childcare like childcare centers or ride-sharing. Many of these have variations in other local markets, so this is more of a sample:CareLuLu - "online marketplace allows parents to quickly find a daycare or preschool that fits their family's needs"PreUni - "sharing economy for pre-school child care from ages 0-4, creating classrooms for 6 month increments"CubbySpot - "help parents find the best daycare for their child and we enable daycares to fill available spots easily"Totkare - "simple solution to help parents find childcare centers and preschools for their kids"Cutie Patootie's Playcare - "flexible drop-in childcare for families during and beyond typical working hours"Shuddle - "safe rides for kids, easily scheduled and tracked rides with carefully vetted drivers"HopSkipDrive - "ride-sharing app for kids, service that allows parents to book rides through an app and track their children's trips in real-time"And some more regional specific ones:Le Cicogne - "leading European company to match demand and supply for baby-sitters"Nannuka - "international online platform that connects parents to numerous nannies, babysitters, tutors and housekeepers across Europe"BookMyBai - "aggregator of Indian maid bureaus to hire domestic help like maids, nanny, senior citizen care takers and cooks"Canadian Nanny - "Canada’s largest resource and online service for families to find a nanny."Hlídačky.cz - "online service where parents book babysitters, supported by social networks and user reviews; based in Czech Republic"kinderfee.de - "Germany's leading trusted market place for child care services"SA3ED.ME - "lets households hire on demand personal assistants with focus on university students and specializing in child care, elderly care, and tutoring; based in Jordan, West Bank, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt"VOSAVOS - "Bogotá based tech-startup focused on making it easier for people to recruit verified and recommended house cleaners, child care and adult care professionals"ADVENIO - "high-quality corporate childcare centers in Mexico and Latin America"AtHome - "connects families and individuals with home solutions for cleaning and housework, child care and pet care in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay"Find A Babysitter - " largest player in the Australian market for babysitters"Kidoro Health - "healthcare platform that simplifies the journey of pregnancy to child care for a mother by connecting them to healthcare providers currently operational in India"Hello Givers - "Caregivers marketplace based in Spain"BrightStar Care of Arlington - "high quality in-home care focused in northern Virginia, USA"Rocket City Sitters - "highly-qualified sitters in the North Alabama, USA area"Nannies on Demand - "high quality babysitters to families throughout New Zealand"Finally, honorable mentions should include platforms like craigslist and Nextdoor which, although not directly servicing childcare, are hubs for finding on demand childcare.This is a huge list so far and, to be honest, I may have only covered 10% or less of the amount of technical apps and services (particularly of the childcare center or local services variety). I could go on, digging up more obscure startups in this space but I hope I've captured how very fragmented the industry is. The challenge is to find and establish babysitters you can trust as well as addressing other needs that give parents a reason to move away from the established giants. Market specific services are especially competitive, but service specific ones like Shuddle tackle economies at scale far better. So hopefully, I covered most of the major startups in this space and captured the gist of what they're trying to do with some justice. Thanks for reading!

Bank normally charges a penalty for not maintaining a prescribed minimum balance in your account. But the Reserve Bank of India RBI has come out with instructions aganst this practice.In an attempt to provide some relief to customers, the Reserve Bank of India has asked banks not to charge any penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance in dormant accounts. Savings accounts and current accounts are treated as dormant if there are no transactions for over two years.According to the RBI notification, banks should not take undue advantage of customer difficulty or inattention. Instead of levying penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank accounts, banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit accounts and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level.Banks should not levy penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balances in any inoperative account. Banks should also limit the liability of customers in electronic banking transactions in cases where banks are not able to prove customer negligence, the RBI said.EDIT - I feel account holders should resist this high handedness despite RBI directions. They should write to their customer care that the penal charges are in blatant violation of RBI directions and should be waived off lest they lose a customer for wrong reasonsEDIT 2 - Please refer to circular number RBI/2014-15/308http://DBR.Dir.BC.No.47/13.03.00/2014-15There are clear directions(vi) It should be ensured that the balance in the savings account does not turn into negative balance solely on account of levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance.But many banks clearly violate this specific and unambiguous direction. What should the account holder do if the bank balance tuns negative?Write to the bank manager drawing attention to this circular. “ Your kind attention is drawn to the RBI circular no. RBI/2014-15/308 vide which there is a clear prohibition —- (vi) It should be ensured that the balance in the savings account does not turn into negative balance solely on account of levy of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance. You are requested to take immediate necessary action failing which I shall be constrained to approach the banking Ombundsman.If no satisfactory reply is received within a MONTH the concerned banking Ombundsman of the area may be requested to take suitable action. A list of the area wise Addresses of Banking OmbudsmenSl. No.CentreName & Address of the Office of Banking OmbudsmanArea of Operation1.AhmedabadShri G J Raju C/o Reserve Bank of India 5th Floor, Nr. Income Tax, Ashram Road Ahmedabad-380 014 STD Code: 079 Tel. No. 26575807/26582357/26586718 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintGujarat, Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu2.BengaluruMs Saraswathi Shyamprasad C/o Reserve Bank of India 10/3/8, Nrupathunga Road Bengaluru -560 001 STD Code: 080 Tel. No. 22277660/22180221 Fax No. 22276114 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintKarnataka3.BhopalShri V K Nayak C/o Reserve Bank of India Hoshangabad Road Post Box No. 32, Bhopal-462 011 STD Code: 0755 Tel. No. 2573772 2573776 2573779 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintMadhya Pradesh4.BhubaneswarShri S Behera C/o Reserve Bank of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Marg Bhubaneswar-751 001 STD Code: 0674 Tel. No. 2396207/2396008 Fax No. 2393906 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintOdisha5.ChandigarhShri J L Negi C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, Sector 17 Chandigarh Tel. No. 0172 - 2721109 Fax No. 0172 - 2721880 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintHimachal Pradesh, Punjab, Union Territory of Chandigarh and Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala Districts of Haryana.6.ChennaiDr. Balu K C/o Reserve Bank of India Fort Glacis, Chennai 600 001 STD Code: 044 Tel No. 25395964 Fax No. 25395488 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintTamil Nadu, Union Territories of Puducherry (except Mahe Region) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands7.DehradunShri Arun Bhagoliwal C/o Reserve Bank of India 74/1 G.M.V.N. Building, 1st floor, Rajpur Road, Dehradun - 248 001 STD Code : 0135 Telephone : 2742001 Fax : 2742001 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintUttarakhand and seven districts of Uttar Pradesh viz., Saharanpur, Shamli (Prabudh Nagar), Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Bijnor and Amroha (Jyotiba Phule Nagar)8.GuwahatiShri Thotngam Jamang C/o Reserve Bank of India Station Road, Pan Bazar Guwahati-781 001 STD Code: 0361 http://Tel.No. 2734219/ 2512929 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintAssam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura9.HyderabadShri T Srinivasa Rao C/o Reserve Bank of India 6-1-56, Secretariat Road Saifabad, Hyderabad-500 004 STD Code: 040 Tel. No. 23210013 Fax No. 23210014 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintAndhra Pradesh and Telangana10.JaipurShri C D Srinivasan C/o Reserve Bank of India, Ram Bagh Circle, Tonk Road, Post Box No. 12 Jaipur-302 004 STD Code: 0141 Tel. No. 2577931 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintRajasthan11.JammuShri P Shimrah C/o Reserve Bank of India, Rail Head Complex, Jammu- 180012 STD Code : 0191 Telephone: 2477617 Fax : 2477219 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintUnion Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh12.KanpurShri P K Nayak C/o Reserve Bank of India M. G. Road, Post Box No. 82 Kanpur-208 001 STD Code: 0512 Tel. No. 2305174/ 2303004 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintUttar Pradesh (excluding Districts of Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Saharanpur, Shamli (Prabudh Nagar), Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Bijnor and Amroha (Jyotiba Phule Nagar)13.KolkataShri Hauzel Thangzamuan C/o Reserve Bank of India 15, Netaji Subhash Road Kolkata-700 001 STD Code: 033 Tel. No. 22310217/22133353 Fax No. 22305899 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintWest Bengal and Sikkim14.Mumbai (I)Dr. Neena Rohit Jain C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, RBI Byculla Office Building, Opp. Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai-400 008 STD Code: 022 Tel No. 23022028 Fax : 23022024 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintDistricts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and Thane15.Mumbai (II)C/o Reserve Bank of India, 4th Floor, RBI Byculla Office Building, Opp. Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai-400 008 STD Code: 022 Telephone: 2300 1280 Fax : 23022024 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintGoa and Maharashtra, (except the districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban and Thane)16.PatnaShri Brij Raj C/o Reserve Bank of India Patna-800 001 STD Code: 0612 Tel. No. 2322569/2323734 Fax No. 2320407 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintBihar17.New Delhi (I)Smt. Anupam Sonal C/o Reserve Bank of India, Sansad Marg, New Delhi STD Code: 011 Tel. No. 23725445 Fax No. 23725218 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintNorth, North-West, West, South-West, New Delhi and South districts of Delhi18.New Delhi (II)Shri R S Amar C/o Reserve Bank of India Sansad Marg, New Delhi STD Code: 011 Tel. No. 23724856 Fax No. 23725218-19 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintHaryana (except Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala Districts) and Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh19.New Delhi (III)Shri V G Sekar C/o Reserve Bank of India Sansad Marg, New Delhi STD Code: 011 Tel. No. 23715393 Fax No. 23765234 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintNorth-East, Central, Shahdara, East and South-East districts of Delhi20.RaipurShri. Keshab Korkora C/o Reserve Bank of India 54/949, Shubhashish Parisar, Satya Prem Vihar Mahadev Ghat Road, Sundar Nagar, Raipur- 492013 STD Code : 0771 Telephone: 2244246, 2241819 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintChhattisgarh21.RanchiSmt Chandana Dasgupta C/o Reserve Bank of India 4th Floor, Pragati Sadan, RRDA Building, Kutchery Road, Ranchi Jharkhand 834001 STD Code : 0651 Telephone : 8521346222/9771863111/ 7542975444 Fax : 2210511 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintJharkhand22.ThiruvananthapuramShri G Ramesh C/o Reserve Bank of India Bakery Junction Thiruvananthapuram-695 033 STD Code: 0471 Tel. No. 2332723/2323959 Fax No. 2321625 Email : [email protected] Click here to lodge complaintKerala, Union Territory of Lakshadweep and Union Territory of Puducherry (only Mahe Region).© Reserve Bank of India. All Rights Reserved.(Source - RBI wbesite)According to the scheme· ·6. When can one file a complaint?One can file a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman if the reply is not received from the bank within a period of one month after the bank concerned has received one's complaint, or the bank rejects the complaint, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the reply given by the bank.8. What is the procedure for filing the complaint before the Banking Ombudsman?One can file a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman simply by writing on a plain paper. One can also file it online at (“click here to lodge a complaint”) or by sending an email to the Banking Ombudsman. There is a form along with details of the scheme in our website. However, it is not mandatory to use this format.14. What details are required in the application?Name and address of the complainant, the name and address of the branch or office of the bank against which the complaint is made, facts giving rise to the complaint supported by documents, if any, the nature and extent of the loss caused to the complainant, the relief sought from the Banking Ombudsman and a declaration about the compliance with conditions which are required to be complied with by the complainant under Clause 9(3) of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.(Source -http://file:///C:/Users/User/Documents/001%20QUORA%20QUORA/Banking/Bank%20ombundman%20RBI.html

Before talking about Kerala let me tell you about some countries with most favorable geographical location.Myanmar is rich in timber, hydropower, natural gas, diamonds, and even uranium. Geographically, it can be called wealthy. However it stands 147th in HDI ranking of 189 countries.Venezuela had the world's largest oil deposit and yet the country is had suffered inflation, hyperinflation. I would suggest it as the worst economy of the century. ( Remember, this place is also geographically wealthy). HDI ranking is 78. Geographically, it has a strategic location and huge amount of resourcesVenezula on MapAngola another African country has( second most geographically rich country in Africa)thick forests in the north serve as a logical border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while the Kalahari Desert offers a natural frontier with Namibia and Botswana to the south. To the east, a gradually rising plateau abuts Zambia, and the South Atlantic Ocean is off to the west. The , Luanda, which is perched on the oil-rich northwestern coast, is ranked the second-most expensive city in the world.But this country is ranked 149th in HDI ranking. It is one of the country with most income inequality.In fact, 94 percent of rural households are categorized as poor. There is a very low electrification rate in rural areas of Angola, with only 6% of rural households having access to electricity. A considerable amount of the population (38 percent) does not have access to safe water sources. Consequently, the mortality rate for children under five is around 17 percent. In addition, many children do not have access to education , making future employment difficult. In fact, 34.6 percent of people have unequal access to education. As a result, 28.9 percent of the population have an unequal income.Somewhere in AngolaWhat I want to say is that these countries all are geographically rich but what make it poor is its worst governance and corruption in bureaucracy.Scholars such as Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that geography has a key role in the development of a nation's economic growth but having it alone be like a popular Malayalam sayingPatteede kayil muzhuvan thenga kodutha pole(Translation: It's like giving a dog a complete coconut)They also need to utilize the geographical resource, plan for a sustainable development by investing in future and present …in short good governance. A good governance plus geography equal to development.Coming back to the question, It's not the geographical location that has a huge share in growth of HDI in the state. It is socio-cultural uprising ( read this for a better view)Jewel Jose's answer to Why is left ideology dominant in Kerala?Upliftment of new class called middle class in the state due to the gulf effect ( brain drain ) which in turn resulted in demand in quality in life standards etc does. Kerala is a state of high literacy (every one knowns that) but Kerala was the first in Asia to undertook the responsibility of education as the responsibility of stateIn Travancore by Rani Gouri Parvati Bai in 1817 , Rani Gauri Parvati Bai of Travancore kingdom made primary education compulsory in Travancore. In 1879, the state grant in aid and rules were made applicable to all private schools, to provide education in vernacular language to a certain standardIn 1874 , Diwan of the Kingdom made a vernacular education department in the state . It was the Magna Carta of Education in Travancore. In 1904 , the Travancore made education completely free in state. Restrictions in lower castes in government schools were removed in 1911-1912. In 1917 rural schools were also started for the benefit of the pupils who were unable to going for education due to poverty or other cause. In view of the people’s demand and the collegiate level institutions in the state, on I st November 1937, the University of Travancore was established and incorporated under the Travancore University Act 1937-38. With the opening of the Travancore University the growth of higher education was accelerated in the state. Restrictions in lower castes in government schools were removed in 1911-1912. In 1917 rural schools were also started for the benefit of the pupils who were unable to going for education due to poverty or other cause. In view of the people’s demand and the collegiate level institutions in the state, on I st November 1937, the University of Travancore was established and incorporated under the Travancore University Act 1937-38. With the opening of the Travancore University the growth of higher education was accelerated in the state.Travancore university , now known as university of keralaEducation in Cochin As was done in Travancore, in Cochin also missionary efforts at starting English Education began during the second decade of the nineteenth century. The first attempt to introduce the study of the English language was made by a CMS missionary Rev. J Dawson, who opened an English school at Mattancheri in 1818, in aid of which he received a grant from the Government. The school did not take in root and it had to be closed down within three years.Saint Chavara Ellias Kuriakose , a Kerala Christian priest founded First Kerala Catholic Sanskrit school in 1846 which he admitted students from every caste and religion even the Dalits.( Remember this was of the time where only Brahmins had the right for ). He created the first primary school of Kerala in 1864 and many other educational institutions during his lifetime. Being a Christian priest, he alloweded Catholics to get English education which was something not alloweded in this era and only Syrian Christians had the right to get it. Thanks to him, I am writing in Quora hereIn 1864, the Bishop put out an warning statement that every Christian Church ( palli) should establish a school next to them. In Malayalam , school is called pallikudam( kudan means attached to church). Chavara achan took a great interest in implementing this circular. The mid day meal program was his orginal idea and inspired by this Sir C.P of Travancore adopted this program on every government school. He has a immense credit at reforming education in Kerala.The educational history of Cochin was, till late in the 1880’s one of opening more and more English schools and raising some of the existing ones to the level of colleges. Sealy was appointed the first Director of Public Instructions in Cochin ‘(K.V.Eapen :1986). The first set of rules for grand in aid to private schools was framed in 1889, subsequent to which a large number of private aided schools sprang up. The education of the common man received attention of the Cochin Government only as late as 1890. The active efforts of the state as well as of private agencies helped the spread of western education in Cochin. The closing decades of the 19th century laid strong foundation for the development of a wide based educational structure during the subsequent decades. During the first decade of itself many measures were taken to improve the educational standards of the states. The important measure taken up was the framing of an educational code by the government in 1911 (C.M Ramachandran:1987). Consequent on the grand in aid given by the government a large number of schools sprang up under private management. The rules for giving aid were revised in 1921 which encouraged the private agencies to open school. Figure 2 Growth in Number of Schools in Cochin Source: Cochin Administrative Report, Relevant years. In 1947 Cochin had three government colleges and two private colleges. The state of Cochin was integrated with the state Travancore and a new state of Travancore Cochin was formed on 1st July, 1949. This merger of the two princely state paved way for the formation of democratic government in the state. Till 1949 the colleges of Cochin were affiliated to the Madras University but with the formation of new state the colleges came under the control of government. However the private colleges continued their affiliation under the Madras University. When the state of Kerala was formed in 1956, these colleges were brought under the department of collegiate education, with their affiliation to the newly formed Kerala University (C.M Ramachandran: 1987). Education in Malabar Malabar became part of the British administration at the end of the 18th century. But the western educational activities started their only very late. The indigenous system continued to exist among the different castes of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The growth of western education was slower in Malabar than in the other two regions (A.R.Kamat:1989). Besides, even the development of education which began after 1835 was strictly based on the infiltration which gave more emphasis to higher levels of school education and collegiate education than primary education. The credit for having laid the foundations of western education in Malabar area goes to the ‘Basal German Evangelical Mission’. Basel Mission in Malabar, founded by Herman Gundert, actively engaged in educational activities in the middle of the 19th century (E. T. Mathew :1991). Among the colleges started in this region, the earliest ones were Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College (Calicut), Victoria College (Palakkad) and Brennen College (Thalassery). In Malabar, the government’s attention to the cause of promotion of Malayalam education began only in 1921.This period had coincided with the Moplah rebellion and with the period of transfer of partial control of central education department to Indians under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919. In Malabar, serious attention was given to the development of primary education supported by grants from the Madras government. The educational disparities that existed between Malabar and the other two regions of Kerala have narrowed down quite rapidly during the past quarter of a century as a result of the deliberate policy of special educational encouragement given to the former region.When India became independent in 1947, Malabar continued to be a district of Madras state. The colleges in Malabar were affiliated to the Madras University. It was added to Travancore-Cochin, as a result of the formation of the linguistic state if India, to form part of the united Kerala state (C.M Ramachandran:1987). However with the enactment of the Kerala University Act in 1957, all colleges in Kerala were brought under the control of the only University in the state then. Thus the Kerala University Act of 1957 transformed the character of the erstwhile Travancore University very creditablyAs a result ater Independence, when Kerala was formed, despite of the economic stagnation that the state faced , Kerala had a high literacy rate when compared to the national percentage, what your aforementioned exaggerated governance model did was to utilize it , they invested to create a sustainable development in education sector. Today, Kerala has the largest literacy rate. It is the same exaggerated governance model which made the effect in education that you see today.Pre Independent Kerala laid down the foundation of education in the state whereas Kerala of Independent lndia finished the building of Education. Education gifted high literacy rate, high school enrollment rate, good employment rate ,destroyed the gender inequality and casteism to an extentComing to the health sectorKerala has a long history of organized health care. Before the advent of European medicine, families of practitioners of indigenous systems like Ayurveda handed their traditions from generation to generation. People were accustomed to approaching caregivers when they were sick, rather than turning to self-treatment. When the colonial powers established their presence in the region, they brought their medical system with them. In the 19th century, the princely rulers of the erstwhile states of Travancore and Cochin (which later were integrated into the state of Kerala along with the Malabar district of the Madras presidency in British India) took the initiative in making the western system of care available to their subjects. A royal proclamation of 1879 made vaccination compulsory for public servants, prisoners and students. All heads of public departments were instructed to see that those under their care and control were vaccinated. Administrative reports indicate that public health authorities were also concerned about the spread of cholera during fairs and festivals, and initiated measures of containment. In 1928, under the auspices of the Travancore government and with the help of the Rockefeller foundation, parasite surveys were conducted in Travancore which led to measures to control hookworm and filariasis. A health unit incorporating many of the concepts of primary health care was also started in a rural area. Development of health services was not confined to the provision of preventive care – the general hospitals in Trivandrum and Cochin are about 150 years old. Initiatives were also taken to get members of the respective states who were trained in western medicine into key posts in the government service. The appointment of Dr Mary Punnen Lukose as the surgeon-general of Travancore in the early years of the 20th century is a case in point.Family photo of Mary Poonen LukoseA doctor trained in England, she was the first woman to be appointed surgeon-general in an Indian state, at a time when women doctors were still a rarity in Europe and America. Development of health services was complemented by other parallel events: initiatives to provide safe drinking water (in the capital city of Trivandrum initially) and the provision of state supported primary education, including education for women. Though schooling had not reached today’s levels of coverage, the first steps were taken. Another important factor was the establishment of mission hospitals in remote areas under the auspices of Christian churches. Young girls from the Christian community in Kerala were keen to take up nursing as a career. At the time of formation of the present Kerala state on 1 November 1956, the foundation for a medical care system accessible to all citizens was already laid. One indicator of the government’s commitment to health services provision is the proportion of government expenditure set apart for health. From the time of the state’s formation, the government’s budget allocation for health was considerable. Social sectors, mainly comprising education and health, accounted for a large share of the government development expenditure. The period from state formation to the early 1980s was characterized by great growth and expansion of the government health services. Figures show the annual compound growth rate of government health care expenditure for the period at 13.04% (at current prices, without deflation), outstripping both the annual compound growth rate of total government expenditure at 12.45% and the annual compound growth rate of the state domestic product at 9.81%.2From 1961 to 1986, the state greatly expanded its government health facilities. The number of beds and institutions increased sharply. The total number of beds in government hospitals in the western medical sector increased from around 13 000 in 1960–61 to 20 000 in 1970–71, and 29 000 in 1980–81. By 1986, the total was 36 000. Estimates in 1996 put the number at 38 000. Thus the major growth phase of facilities in the government sector was before 1986, after which it slowed considerably. Fiscal crisis in the government and its effect on health services The period from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s has been termed a period of ‘fiscal crisis’ for the state government. There was unprecedented growth in revenue deficits – the excess of government expenditure over revenue – which has been well documented in recent studies. Though budgetary deficit has become a common feature for all states in India, the magnitude of the deficit in Kerala has been steadily growing and is substantively higher than the All-States average in India as a whole. During this time, expenditure on health shows that after an initial slowing down of the growth of average annual total expenditure in real terms from 1975–79 to 1980–84 ,( growth recovered from 1985–89 through 1990–94. Plan expenditure, which is supported by grants from central government, did not contribute to the initial setback; in fact, plan expenditure grew from 1975–79 to 1980–84. Plan expenditure consists mainly of expenditure on central government schemes such as national disease control programs. As such, the component of capital expenditure is larger in plan expenditure. Non-plan expenditure is the major chunk of government expenditure on health and is contributed by the state government. Revenue expenditure, which includes a large component of salaries, constitutes the larger share of non-plan expenditure. By 1990–94 the central government severely curtailed spending on health as a natural consequence of its own policies; this is reflected in the reduced plan expenditure in Kerala.During1985–86 to 1995–96 the proportion of government expenditure on health was maintained in spite of a large fiscal deficit . However, adjustments were made in reaction to the fiscal situation. Analysis shows that capital spending (buildings and infrastructure) stagnated by the mid-1980s before decline , whereas revenue spending (salaries and consumables)continued to grow into the 1990s. This is due to the salary component in revenue expenditure, which showed no sign of diminishing during most of this period. In view of the state’s socio-political environment, characterized by a high awareness of their political rights by the organized labor force, including government employees, this is not surprising. Successive governments, being committed to growing expenditure on salaries because of increases both in jobs created and in pay, resorted to cutting back supplies when faced with growing fiscal difficulty. Spending on supplies shows a definite downturn by the latter half of the 1980s (in state government accounting, ‘supplies’ includes drugs and other consumables such as linen, minor equipment, suture materials, etc). This had a major affect on the secondary sector, consisting of the district and taluk(sub-unit or district) hospitals, and the primary sector, consisting of primary health centers .Since these accounted for a majority of beds in the health services most accessible to the common people, the quality of medical care in the government hospitals must have been affected. We can only arrive at this conclusion from indirect evidence. An extensive survey of 10 000 households by a voluntary organization in 1987 found that overall only 23% of households regularly utilized the government health services. Even in the poorest stratum this share was as low as 33%,declining steadily to 8% among the most affluent households. The reasons stated for not using government institutions included ‘non-availability of drugs in the government hospitals’, ‘lack of proper attention’ and ‘better behavior in private insitutions’.7The government has been well aware of the increasing scarcity of funds in the health sector. In government hospitals in Kerala, only households with incomes below a certain level are entitled to free services. The government has fixed user charges for all others, and these have existed for a long time. In spirit, this law ensures that the benefit of subsidy goes to Historical development of health care in Kerala.In Health sector too, awareness, importance and the most basic foundation was laid down by Kerala of pre independent India whereas it was finished building by Kerala of Independent lndia and is modified by each government that rules and is still modifying. Here to, it is the so called exaggerated governance model which build up the health sector which increased the life expectancy, infant Mortality Rate.In a nutshell, I agree to the fact that geography had played a role in development but the role was little. It is the excellent governance model laid down by both the governments which ultimately led to the high HDI of what you see today. If you address this governance as an exaggeration , then it will be the greatest hypocrisy. Lastly, people boast when they have achieved something other people fails to or when they achieve something rare. It is the natural tendency of human beings. We have achieved it through hard work and we have the right to boast about it as we have the right to express given by the Indian government.Hope it helpsJ.JRead more on:Kerala can leapfrog into a new world by 2030 if it transforms economy beyond conventional bounds: P Chidambaramhttps://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/a-new-economic-architecture-for-kerala/article31776906.ece