Thiruvananthapuram, February 14 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the state government’s three-day Vision 2031 International Conference on Development and Democracy here on February 15.
The conference will bring together over 3,500 delegates and more than 150 speakers across 20 multi-sectoral conference sessions in nine venues, and will conclude on February 17, according to a statement from the CMO on Saturday.
The statement further said that Vision 2031 is a comprehensive effort to consolidate and evaluate the gains of social and economic development in the state, as well as to formulate new policies and create fresh perspectives for the future.
It quoted CM Vijayan as saying that the decade from 2016 to 2026 has been a period of rapid and unprecedented economic development in Kerala, and that no other part of India has experienced such progressive growth in the 21st century.
"These changes have been achieved despite the financial constraints imposed on the state by the union government. Every sector of the economy has been put on a new path of development and growth," he said.
He further emphasised that decentralized planning and governance continue to be of central importance, with a steady increase in the devolution of funds and a widening and deepening of development activities undertaken by local governments.
The CM said these achievements are reflected in Kerala’s performance in national-level indices, such as the Sustainable Development Goals India Index, the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, and sectoral rankings in education, health, and industry, among others.
He also said that in 2025, the LDF government announced the Vision 2031 initiative, under which various departments organised 34 seminars across the state’s 14 districts to discuss recent development achievements and perspectives for a modern, progressive future for the people of Kerala.
The international conference marks the culmination of that process, the CM said.
"For the government of Kerala, formulating public policy is an exercise in people’s participation, involving the widest possible consultations with experts and all sections of society before finalisation. The Vision 2031 effort is a continuation of that approach," he said.
Vijayan will inaugurate the conference at the Sankaranarayanan Thampi Hall of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, while Revenue Minister K Rajan will preside over the inaugural session.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, historian Romila Thapar, and World Food Prize winner Shakuntala Thilsted are among the eminent speakers scheduled to address the conference.