Perhaps for the first time in the country, a trade and industry body in Kochi has come out with the novel initiative of rewarding a corporation councillor for making his/her ward clean.

The 125-year old Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cochin, has announced a cash prize of Rs 20,000 for the winning ward, out of the 74 wards in Cochin Corporation. “Our intention is to provide basic health to society, as the Covid situation has facilitated us to carry out various health-related initiatives in the city with the direct involvement of the residents and councillors,” Vikas Agarwal, president of the chamber, said.

A special five-member jury will identify the cleanest ward in the corporation limits and suggest the name of the ward member eligible for the prize. The proposal has been discussed with the City Mayor, who has agreed to cooperate with the project, which will be carried out on a monthly basis, he said.

“Currently we are confining the award to ward members in Cochin Corporation alone. If the project succeeds, we want to emulate it in all the districts in Kerala through a PPP model,” Agarwal added.

“During these unprecedented times of pandemic, we have been forced to understand the meaning of the old adage – Health is Wealth. Covid has been a big leveller. Health is also the absence of illness and illness stems from dirty surroundings,” he said.

The Chamber has also taken up the issue of levying Direct Port Delivery charges and en-bloc movement of containers with the terminal operator DP World. It felt that the implementation of the order to collect such high levies would result in the diversion of business to neighbouring ports and add to high operation costs in the container terminal. The Covid situation and high freight costs globally have played havoc with business, adding to the burden of stakeholders, the Chamber president said.

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