KOCHI: Kitex Group, a textile firm with around 8,000 employees and an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, is planning an unusual ‘takeover’. Where most corporate organizations in Kerala crawl on being asked to bend when confronted by vindictive politicians and dogma-driven trade unions, Kitex Group has dared to take the battle to them.

The company—which exports apparel items to international brands such as Mother Care , Walmart , Toys “R” Us, Gerber and Kohl’s—plans to field independent candidates in all 17 wards of Kizhakambalam panchayat , hardly 30km from Kochi and where its manufacturing plant is based, in the local body polls later this year.

Denied a permanent licence for its plant by the panchayat, the company has launched a charitable mission that has spent around Rs 28 crore in the last two years to usher in unprecedented development in the panchayat and to emerge as a credible alternative to the entrenched political parties in the area.

Under the aegis of Twenty20, a body registered as a charitable institution, the company has upgraded a whole lot of civic amenities ranging from drinking water plants to roads besides providing scholarships and medical expenses for the needy. Interestingly, the total spending by Kizhakambalam gram panchayat in the past four years stands at Rs 22.4 crore, less than what Twenty20 has spent in two years.

In fact, Twenty20 has become so popular that it has even won over many converts from ideologically-driven cadre parties like CPM and CPI. Members of AITUC, the trade union wing of CPI, have actually gone a step further and wear the Twenty20 badge on their shirts.

Of course, in a state where politics is religion and private enterprise still an anathema, the company has its share of detractors. “The company has been discharging waste water from its effluent treatment plants in nearby paddy fields, and all this activity is basically a cover-up,’’ says Rahim, secretary of the Action Council Against Pollution, a group active in the panchayat.

The panchayat administration, run by Congress, has been denying a permanent licence to the garment factory on exactly this charge of pollution beyond permissible limits. While the state pollution board has given the factory a temporary licence, and the case is under consideration in Kerala high court, Kitex has decided to go to the people of the panchayat.

Twenty20 might invite sniggers for sporting a rather flashy name but the 160-odd full-time activists who run it under the hands-on direction of the company’s top management bring an urgency and whatever-it-takes attitude that has won over many.

“Of the 8,000 families in Kizhakambalam grama panchayat, 6,700 families have registered with us,’’ said Sabu M Jacob, chief coordinator of Twenty20, and Kitex’s managing director.

To avail benefits offered by Twenty20, a family needs to register with the mission which then issues it a card. The society issues blue, green, yellow and red cards to villagers based on their income. Nearly 71% or 4,627 families fall under the red and yellow categories — low-income and below poverty level respectively.

About the charge of pollution, the company management says the state pollution control board has given them a no-objection certificate, a pre-condition for a temporary licence. “Following a complaint by locals, Kerala high court had appointed a commission to look into it. The commission conducted inspections along with gram panchayat members from three wards where there were complaints of pollution, Based on the report by the commission, Kerala high court asked PCB officials to renew our application for three years. We follow international standards and use Swiss technology for treating waste from our plants,’’ Sabu Jacob said. “Our foreign buyers would discontinue business with us if they found us indulging in any sort of violation including not adhering to pollution norms set by the government,’’ he added.

The denial of permanent licence to the company, sources reveal, could have its origins in a family feud. Till the early 90s, Kitex group and the Congress leadership had a good relationship. Then, M P Rajan, the nephew of Kitex Group’s founder M C Jacob, who was the link between the Congress state leadership and the company management, fell out with the latter.

He is now a key member of the Congress-led front that rules the district panchayat. When asked about his role in the denial of licence, Rajan said he was only doing his duty as a people’s representative. “Our rivalry has got nothing to do with family issues. I have only taken up issues that have caused hardships to the people of the panchayat because of the company’s activities,” he said.

Jacob says they run into hurdles whenever licence renewal comes up before the panchayat at the end of every fiscal. “Though we regularly submit applications, the Congress-led ruling front denies us licence. We have been functioning on a deemed licence for the past few years,’’ Jacob adds.

That hasn’t stopped the charity’s work. So far, Twenty20 has constructed drinking water projects for the benefit of 1,200 families in the panchayat. It provides students education kits and laptops at 50% subsidy, distributes vegetables and groceries at half the market price and has sponsored surgeries for about 2,000 people in the panchayat. “Twenty20 took care of the entire hospital bill for my uterus surgery. They also renovated our house. They don’t give us any money directly but bear the entire cost,” said Valasala Sekharan, a homemaker.

Eldho Jacob, a factory worker from Malayidom Thuruth, is not as upbeat. “It is just an exercise to win the hearts of the people in order to control the panchayat. The charity will last till they win the panchayat election. After that it remains to be seen if all the charity work will continue,” he said.

Whatever the claims and counter claims, the majority of Kizhakambalam residents aren’t complaining. They have better roads, potable water, many of them now have a proper roof over their heads and someone to turn to in emergencies.

“They may have motives, who doesn’t? There is no such thing called a freebie in this world. For us what matters is that all this help from Twenty20 has made a difference to our lives,” said MR Mani, who was born and raised here. Come October, when the panchayat elections take place, this groundswell of sentiment could turn into votes and, for the first time, Kerala could witness a quiet ‘revolution’ in its backwaters.