Finer Than Calico

It's hard to believe this little town—with its population of 70,000 artisans, hookah-makers, potters, farmers and fisherfolk—graduated from village council to municipality as recently as in 1995. But that could be one reason behind its crusading zeal to clean up and get ahead. It could also be that the Marxists, who wrested control of the council from the Congress after 25 years, seem as determined to maintain Koilandy's exemplary standards of municipal governance.

The first thing you notice here is what you don't notice: no potholed roads, overflowing drains or heaps of rotting garbage. The municipality makes sure the roads are cleaned every night, and there's even segregation of waste: plastic bags are collected and graded for recycling, around 500 vermicompost bins are in place in neighbourhoods, to process waste near the source. Also, a biogas plant coming up near the government hospital here will soon be up and running.

Municipal chairperson K. Dasan, a principal player behind the municipality's meticulous work ethic, is only too happy to digress on the improving "quality of life". A major success has been the drive against the dengue fever epidemic, especially since the the town was once notorious for its "mosquito clouds". To ensure drains didn't clog up, a massive clean-up was undertaken well before the monsoons. Dr Reena Anil Kumar of the Clean Kerala Mission focuses on Koilandy's integrated approach to pest control. "We've won the battle against filarial afflictions here," she says proudly.

Koilandy's schools too are scoring high. Only five per cent of students in the municipality go to private institutions, a complete reverse of the national trend, in vogue even elsewhere in the state. M.G. Balraj, a high school teacher in charge of quality improvement, cites the results at Mappila Government High School—up from 55 per cent to 82 per cent in a single year. "We organised more interactive sessions with problem students, who opened up revealing stories of deprivation and domestic problems. I like to think that we helped cope with the physical/emotional stress, which was reflected in the better results. Weak students were also given extra coaching," he says. Incidentally, even chairman Dasan is in the learning process. He's joined an e-literacy class under the Kerala IT Mission's Akshayaprogramme.

The Koilandy municipality, which could barely pay its staff four years ago, now even funds its own welfare schemes—Ashraya for 247 below-poverty line (BPL) families; Souhruda, a welfare group for the mentally challenged, and another pain and palliative care hospice. All this thanks to a brand-new asset: a bus stand-cum-shopping complex, constructed at a cost of Rs 6 crore, with help from the Urban Infrastructure Development of Small and Medium Towns project. An instant success, the project raked in nearly Rs 8 crore worth of deposits from merchants and businesses renting out space there. As Dasan recalls, "There were many sceptics wondering aloud whether we'd be able to recoup the investment. But we repaid the bank loan in less than a year and put the rest aside for development schemes."

Such is the confidence and enthusiasm in the municipality's capabilities that the public too has generously contributed to ventures ranging from school programmes to welfare schemes for the destitute. "I've never found funds to be a major constraint," saysDasan.

And perhaps a first in Indian politics, even the opposition has nothing but praise for the municipality. M. Ashraf, municipal opposition leader and iuml member, says, "Dasan's earned our respect since he takes us into confidence even before discussing new programmes at the council meeting." The municipality also holds itself accountable by being one of the first in the state to publish a citizen's charter, stipulating a minimum time for delivery of services.

All these achievements are all the more impressive in the context of the small number of workers employed by the Koilandy municipality. While neighbouring Vadakara, whose population is only marginally higher, has 200 permanent staffers and 45 contingency employees, Koilandy has only 38 staff on the regular rolls and 21 casual workers.

The group has its work cut out, for Koilandy has ambitious plans for the future: Asia's largest fishing harbour, a zero-waste programme, recycling units for plastic and waste water, a cultural museum, a fashion designing course, a 25-member volunteer health brigade covering all 41 wards, and a residential school for young football players. But first, Dasan, a Marxist with Gandhian leanings, is determined to fulfil a long-cherished dream: "Making salt by the seashore is both a symbolic and a gainful economic activity. We tried it last year but the monsoon flooded the pits. We'll try again this year." It's a Dandi, down south.