of the long-standing tradition of dowry across lines of caste, class, and religion, and the finding that women do about twenty times as much housework as men in Kerala suggest the restricted autonomy and oppression that Kerala women continue to face. Furthermore, economic participation and involvement of women is declining in Kerala, and male casual laborers receive almost double that of women. However, some policies such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Kudumbashree microenterprises have promoted female entrepreneurship, encouraged women's economic empowerment, and decreased gender disparities in Kerala, according to academic literature analyzing gender sensitive policies. State policy In 1957 Kerala elected a communist government headed by EMS Namboothiripad, introduced the revolutionary Land Reform Ordinance. The land reform was implemented by the subsequent government, which had abolished tenancy, benefiting 1.5 million poor households. This achievement was the result of decades of struggle by Kerala's peasant associations. In 1967 in his second term as Chief Minister, EMS again pushed for reform. The land reform initiative abolished tenancy and landlord exploitation, effective public food distribution that provides subsidised rice to low-income households, protective laws for agricultural workers, pensions for retired agricultural laborers, and a high rate of government employment for members of formerly lower-caste communities. India is a multinational state home to provincial states with differing policies, and Kerala's place within this federalist system can be seen through analyses of its regime type. Two coalitions containing all-India parties have alternately been in power in Kerala—not dissimilar to the neighboring South Indian state of Andra Pradesh. Kerala has a strong leftist movement presence that has contributed to changes in the traditional feudal-caste system in India. Democratization of the state has surrounded significant increases in components of welfare and has led to a large social transformation since the early 20th century. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have comparable increases in social development, albeit with Kerala to a much higher degree—yet Tamil Nadu has been ruled by Tamil nationalist parties for over half a century. In comparison, West Bengal is seen as even stronger in terms of Leftist movement and governmental policy compared to Kerala yet is ranked far lower in disparities in rural areas, urban areas, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes. Further, there is hardly any per capita consumption expenditure and literacy levels between Muslims and Hindus in Kerala—while Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the country as a whole have