"While India’s life expectancy figure of around 60 years compare quite unfavourably with China’s 69 years, Kerala’s life expectancy – about 72 years – appears on the other side of China’s achievement. Similarly, the infant mortality rate of 79 per thousand live births in India is very high indeed in comparison with China’s 31, but Kerala’s rate of 17 is much better than China’s. Again while India’s literacy rate is much lower than that of China, Kerala’s is substantially higher than China’s."