'If one crore is sanctioned to make a road, they spend only Rs 40 lakhs and the remaining 60 lakhs is looted by the politician, bureaucrats and the contractor.'
Twenty20, Kerala's nascent political party, has formed an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party which is looking to increase its footprint nationally after its victory in Punjab.
Twenty20 is the corporate social responsibility component of Kitex, the second largest manufacturer of children's garments in the world.
Kitex ships almost a million pieces every day to the American market in the zero to 24 months infant category. Its products can be found across children's stores, including Walmart and Target.
Twenty20 won the Kizhakkambalam panchayat election in 2015 and transformed it into a model corporate village.
The Twenty20 party presently governs four panchayats in Ernakulum district and contested eight seats in the 2021 Kerala assembly election.
"I never wanted to come into politics, but have been forced into politics. I'm not for power, money or any position. I just want to do something for the people and the country. I am grateful if I can do that," Sabu Jacob, Kitex MD and coordinator, Twenty20, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in a telephone conversation from the US where he had traveled on business.
The concluding segment of a two-part interview:
Kerala ranks 28 amongst Indian states in the ease of doing business. There are reports of frequent strikes and bandhs and the impression is that the state does not have much of a business culture.
In 2018, we were ranked 18. Within four years, we dropped to 28. What does that show?
In the last six years, the approach has been very negative. There have been a lot strikes and bandhs. People do not want to invest in Kerala. There is no investment coming from outside.
Major industries are moving out. Pepsi has moved out, my company has moved out and there are others like Malabar Gold that are also investing in Telangana.
Since you started Twenty20, how has it progressed? What have been your biggest successes and failures?
We started in 2012 with the clear intention to make a model village.
In 2015, we contested the panchayat elections and never thought about coming into politics. We were forced to enter politics due to the certain issues like the prevailing corruption.
We decided to invest in food security, housing, drinking water, infrastructure in our village. It is the first time that food security programme has been implemented in a village in India. Everyone in the village has food three times a day.
Daily essentials are sold at an economical rate that we ensure that one family can live comfortably on maximum 2000-2,500 rupees.
In 2018, there was a devastating flood in Kerala, but our village did not get flooded because we started clearing all the canals from the day we took office.
We converted the village roads to national highway standard and revived agriculture. We converted 1000-1,500 acres of barren land into paddy and banana cultivation.
When we took over in 2015, that particular panchayat had a debt of 39 lakhs, and after achieving all that I mentioned above, we deposited 13 crore 57 lakhs in the bank after 5 years.
In Kerala, there are 972 panchayats plus nearly 100 municipalities and corporations. Why are the municipalities or corporations or the states running into losses? It is only because of corruption. If we eliminate corruption, 80 percent of the problem is over.
For example, if one crore (Rs 10 million) is sanctioned to make a road, they spend only Rs 40 lakhs (Rs 4 million) and remaining 60 lakhs (Rs 6 million) is looted by the politician, bureaucrats and the contractor.
Since there is no quality control, even that 40 lakhs is washed away and the ultimate result is that 100% of the money is wasted.
There are over 1,000 panchayats in Kerala -- so you can imagine how much of the people's money is being looted by panchayats.
Kerala is largely seen as an ideal state where Christians, Muslims, Hindus live together. As a politician, what are some of your concerns and what are the social undercurrents that you see in the state?
It is very dangerous that politicians are utilising religion for votes. That is not good and that's why we don't want to talk about religion.
Voting along religious lines is not good. In a democracy, we should not bring religion into the politics.
What is your goal, your objective in politics?
I'm a businessman. I never wanted to come into politics, but have been forced into politics. I am concerned about people's welfare and development of the country. I'm not for power, money or any position. I just want to do something for the people and the country. I am grateful if can do that.
Do you see yourself contesting elections?
I never thought about contesting an election. Even before entering politics, I had many offers of a Rajya Sabha seat, or a ticket to contest as MP or MLA. If I had wanted any ministerial position, I could have joined any party, but I'm not looking for those kinds of positions.
I prefer to stay behind the scenes and work for the people and the country.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
