As Kerala and Tamil Nadu geared up for elections to their assemblies, their incumbent governments advertised the success of their respective economic models. The confidence displayed stems from the fact that these two are among India’s most successful states in terms of the standard measures of well-being. On most indicators, the populations of these states do better than the national average. These include literacy, the nutritional status of both children and adults and life chances measured by infant mortality. Their edge also carries over to the indicators that may be thought of as measuring the physical quality of life, such as housing, sanitation and the density of the public health infrastructure, though the northeastern states and Himachal Pradesh do very well too.The state of Tamil Nadu also stands out in terms of its industrial base and the presence of a skilled technical workforce, proactive politicians and a capable administrative cadre. However, it is not their economic prowess alone that is showcased as much as the fact their policies have secured social justice.Social justice is implicitly understood as the distribution of goods across the population. As we will see, the population itself may be sliced in different ways. The measure of social justice that is most adopted in India is the distance between social groups, usually defined by caste. Different metrics many be used, with income being the most common one. As data on the income distribution in India is not available, it is customary to use the data on consumption assuming that it reflects the distribution of income. Kerala and TN are well ahead of India in term of per capita consumption, indeed by about a third. It is from this point of view that they are usually considered developmental successes within the country. But there is something else of note. In both states the social group with the lowest consumption per capita, namely the Scheduled Castes (SCs), have a consumption level higher than the per capita consumption of the Indian population.The SCs remain at the bottom of the distribution in both statesThis is remarkable as an indication of how well the historically deprived have done in these two southern states. Yet the SCs remain at the bottom of the distribution in both states. Furthermore, the distance between the SCs and the rest of the population is slightly higher in these two states than it is for India as a whole. It may seem that we are in a quandary when it comes to judging these states in terms of social justice.However, a prominent theory of justice would decisively rank Kerala and Tamil Nadu above rest of India on grounds that the worst-off in these states have more by comparison. This is based on the maximin rule adopted by the philosopher John Rawls. Further, in Tamil Nadu, for some decades by now there is little to differentiate the Other Backward Classes (OBC) from the best-off social group in terms of consumption.As the OBCs form the largest caste grouping, it shows that Tamil Nadu has spread its economic growth better than the rest of the country has done. With caste being a major axis of differentiation in the public discourse it may be said that these states have made considerable progress. But could we be missing something that deserves equal attention?It is interesting that the discourse on inequality in India has virtually erased a concern with gender, i.e., the position of women in its society. Surely, given historic inequality, gender must figure as much as any other attribute when assessing the progress made on social justice. How do the development icons of Kerala and Tamil Nadu fare in this regard? On literacy, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are far ahead of India and the difference between men and women is not great. What about health? Take anaemia, an index of nutrition. Again, Kerala is well ahead of the rest of India, with significantly lower levels of anaemia among women in Kerala, but Tamil Nadu is only on par. There is a surprising twist, though. The proportion of women with anaemia is twice that of the men in these two southern states, which is higher than for India as a whole. In Tamil Nadu it is 3 times as high, indicating very high gender inequality in health, possibly due to systematic neglect of the girl child.Finally, is social justice to be understood solely in terms of the distribution of goods, or something wider? What about power? Two metrics of gender in governance, namely the proportion of women legislators and of women at the highest level of the judiciary appear relevant to the context. Women constitute less than 10% of Kerala legislators and high court judges, numbers far less than the national average. Tamil Nadu does worse. Only 5% of its legislature is made up of women, which is lower than the national average.Though the state has a higher proportion of women high court judges than India as a whole does, at less than 20% it remains dismal. We find a near total exclusion of women from governance, the hallmark of patriarchy, in these two southern states. It is not clear whether the women of these states enjoy the freedom to work outside the home either. At barely a third, the female labour force participation rate in these states is almost identical to that of India as a whole.Kerala and Tamil Nadu figure prominently in the global discourse on development having achieved higher levels of both per capita income and with more favourable social indicators than much of the rest of India. It is often repeated that Kerala has a lower infant mortality rate than the United States (though even here the rate is higher for the girl child). The political establishment in these states emphasise that they have also delivered social justice. But social justice appears to have been imagined in terms of class or caste. This has dimmed the light on the unequal progress of women’s health and their absence from governance. While the social structure favoring the elites has been dismantled, most effectively in Kerala through land reforms, patriarchy rules in these lands.A democratic deficitNot even the fact of the sex ratio in Kerala being on par with the international standard, with more women than there are men in the population, the gap between men and women in terms of health and access to power, measured by political representation remains intact. The social justice discourse propagated by the political classes of Kerala and Tamil Nadu skirts the issue completely, confining it to class, caste and religion. It is unlikely that women will be empowered though a legislative process when men dominate the legislatures of both states so totally. In fact, it is clear from a reading of the history of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu that only a movement led by women, and playing out in society, will bring about their empowerment. Something of the sort was initiated by a women’s collective in the Malayalam film world which forced the government to set up the Hema Committee to investigate the matter.The report brought into the limelight the systematic exploitation, abuse and discrimination against women workers in the industry. However, it was released only in part and no prosecution has been initiated by the government, which it is ethically bound to do. A parallel “Me Too” movement rallied around the Hema Committee Report and some allegations of sexual harassment by prominent members of the Kerala film world reached the courts as private petitions but so far there have only been acquittals and not a single conviction has taken place.The iconic development models of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have a democratic deficit. The discourse on development in these states has progressed by emphasising the salience of inequality but remains incredible by its focus on the distribution of goods. This erases, wittingly or unwittingly, the unequal distribution of power. After the move now afoot to increase the representation of women in the Lok Sabha, attention will inevitably pivot to the state assemblies of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.Pulapre Balakrishnan is Honorary Visiting Professor of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Yashwanth A.V., is a Teaching Fellow of Krea University, Sri City