IDUKKI: When Chacko Ittoop, the doyen of Ancheril family, passed away in 2004, residents of Adimali thought they had seen the last of the family’s contributions towards the town’s development. But like the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
When government officials had a tough time finding land to set up the smart village office for Mannamkandam village in Adimali a few months ago, Ittoop’s younger son Reji Ittoop stepped in. Following in his father’s footsteps, the younger Ittoop readily handed over a portion of his land for free for building the office. So, it did not come as a surprise when the Idukki district administration decided to honour the family during the office’s inaugural function on Monday.
The officials handed over a memento as a token of their gratitude to the family for their generosity. The Ancheril family has always been a driving force behind Adimali’s progress. With the sole aim of bringing development to Adimali, the family donated their land and even buildings to set up as many as 20 government offices in the town.
“Bringing in development to his locality and public welfare had been the lifelong objective of my father Chacko Ittoop, a teacher-turned-farmer, who donated all his assets, including buildings and his own house, for setting up government offices, schools and other centres,” Ittoop’s elder son Jacob Ittoop had told TNIE earlier.
Since Ittoop served as the first president of Mannamkandam panchayat, now Adimali panchayat, the panchayat office was the first government establishment to be set up in the town, in a two-storey building Chacko owned. When the time came, Ittoop also gave space to set up a village office in the upper storey of the building. “A veterinary hospital had been a long-pending demand of Adimali residents engaged in cattle rearing and farming back in the day.
When the authorities had trouble finding a suitable building for the same, my father gave away the house we had been staying in for it,” Jacob had said. Following this, the family comprising Ittoop, his wife and three children shifted to a new house. However, Ittoop later handed over that too to the postal department to open a post office.
In fact, 20 government establishments, including the coffee board, minor irrigation department, excise and MG University information offices, besides courts, a school and a tribal hostel as well as social and political organisations, in Adimali are a testament to the senior Ittoop’s generosity.
Since his children had no qualms in following in Ittoop’s footsteps, Reji willingly gave away the land situated on a prime location to the revenue department to set up the village office, even though it could have fetched him good money had he decided to sell it. “Development was our father’s dream. As his children we want to pursue his dream,” Jacob had said.
