Panchayat Incorporated

Twenty20, which established a corporate panchayat in Kerala in 2015, is expanding its realm during the local body polls this year. How sustainable is the option? JINOY JOSE P KOCHI, KERALA

- JINOY JOSE P KOCHI, KERALA

VARGHESE CHETTAN has never heard of the Pullman town developed south of Chicago, US, in 1884. Yet his tea stall on God Villa Road in south Kerala is at the entrance of a village that closely resembles the company town US billionaire George Pullman built for the workers of his company. It was one of the most ambitious corporate-backed social experiments the US has ever seen.

Kizhakkambalam village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district is home to an equally ambitious social experiment. In 2015, it became India’s first corporate ruled local body after its people sprang a surprise by electing Twenty20, an apolitical collective floated by a corporate, to the gram panchayat. Candidates fielded by the collective won 17 of the 19 seats in the panchayat elections.

Twenty20 was floated by Sabu M Jacob, managing director of Kitex Garments, an arm of Kerala’s one of the largest private employer Anna-Kitex Group. The company has a workforce of about 12,500 and majority of them reside in and around the village. “People are fed up with the seesaw politics and the apathy of mainstream political parties towards social welfare and collective well-being,” says Jacob.

The collective came to power on the promise that the village will be the most developed in the country by 2020. It has since implemented a slew of projects, including a swanky supermarket. Spread over 1,300 square metres, the store sells goods at heavily discounted rates. It is available only to the village residents, who have been issued an identification card.