Kochi: Five years ago when Kerala voted in the gram panchayat (village council) elections, one panchayat among the 941 in the state stood out. In Kizhakkambalam panchayat in the outskirts of Kochi, people voted for Twenty20, an organization spawned by an aversion to the way political parties were handling local governance.
Contesting against the combined might of the then ruling Congress party, the Communist Party of India Marxist and other smaller political outfits, Twenty20 won 17 of the 19 wards in the Kizhakkambalam panchayat.
Genesis in a medial camp
Winning against established political parties in Kerala is an achievement in itself, but even more unique is that Twenty20 was initiated by a corporate, the Anna-Kitex group, and local residents flocked to the organization in a state where the very term ‘corporate’ is anathema to many.
A year after the Kizhakkambalam-based Anna-Kitex group founder M.C. Jacob passed away in 2011, his sons Sabu M. Jacob and Boby M. Jacob organized a medical camp as a social initiative to keep to their father’s vision of ensuring that the village also grew along with their business.
“We got 111 doctors and about 500 paramedics for the free medical camp, and over 5,000 people came for medical assistance for diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer and eye problems to dental issues. We appointed four persons with Master of Social Work (MSW) qualification for a follow-up social survey and the results shocked everyone,” Twenty20 chief co-ordinator Sabu M Jacob told Gulf News.
“There were many without toilets, electricity connection, drinking water, houses and there were some families living under tarpaulin sheets along with their cattle,” he added.
Villagers unite
The following year, in 2013, Twenty20 was registered as a charitable society but the turning point came when the local panchayat issued a stop memo to a fair that Twenty20 was organizing, making household goods available at nearly half the price, with the rest being subsidized by Anna-Kitex.
“It was during Onam season and the villagers were really enjoying the fair when the panchayat issued a stop memo and sealed the venue. That was the final straw in the villagers’ ire against the local body and the politicians behind it”, says Jacob.
Villagers then decided to contest the panchayat elections of 2015 and handed a sound drubbing to the political parties, winning 17 of the 19 wards. The landslide victory came despite Twenty20 not having a common election symbol for its candidates.
The name Twenty20 was coined by their estimation in 2013 that it would take about seven years to turn Kizhakkambalam in to a model village.
Parties protest
What transpired thereafter has been bizarre. Protests in India are normally about people making demands, but in Kizhakkambalam where Twenty20 is governing, political parties were seen to be objecting to various projects of the panchayat.
One that caught state-wide attention was when the panchayat decided to widen a road and lay a good quality road that would last over a decade, and local politicians opposed. The Kerala High Court ruled in favour of the panchayat and the road work is now progressing briskly.
Food security initiative
One of the key interventions in the village has been a supermarket, where villagers can purchase all essential provisions and vegetables at a whopping 80 per cent discount, subsidized by the Kitex group. At the store, rice that sells for Rs 60 is available for Rs 12 and eggs that go for Rs 6 are sold at Rs 1.20.
Such largesse from the Anna-Kitex group has prompted political leaders to criticize the supermarket initiative, calling Kizhakkambalam a village in the clutches of a corporate.
The Jacobs, the director board of Twenty20 and its numerous functionaries are unfazed by the criticism and are going ahead with their projects that include houses for the homeless at Rs 1.4 million each, a brand new bus station and multiple road construction and agricultural projects among others.
Significantly, the panchayat which had a debt of Rs 3.9 million when Twenty20 came to power, currently has a surplus of Rs 135.70 million in its kitty.
Ready for encore
With panchayat elections due in November, Twenty20 members say they are ready for an encore, with the aim to win all 19 seats. This time, Twenty20 has the additional benefit of contesting under a party symbol it was allotted recently – a mango.
Other political parties are yet to finalise their candidates, but Twenty20 has chosen all 19 to contest. Strikingly, 16 of them are women.
Not sitting on oars, Twenty20 has decided to extend its presence to four other panchayats in the neighbourhood, namely Mazhuvannur, Aikkaranad, Kunnathunad and Vengola panchayats.
Amid its many successes, the Kizhakkambalam model is attracting criticism, too. It is a corporatized panchayat, say some. Others accuse Sabu M. Jacob of an authoritarian style. But voters gave Twenty20 a big thumbs up in 2015, giving it 69.90 per cent vote share in the panchayat.
Once the COVID-19 worries are overcome and villagers elect their representatives again, another massive victory for Twenty20 in Kizhakkambalam could ring alarm bells for traditional political outfits.