Kochouseph Chittilappilly

Kochouseph Chittilappilly

Chittilappily in 2011
Born 1950
Parappur, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Occupation Businessperson, writer
Known for Business
Philanthropy
Humanism
Spouse(s) Sheila Chittilappilly
Children Arun Chittilappilly
Mithun Chittilappilly
Parent(s) C. O. Thomas
Awards GOI Rashtriya Samman
Millennium Businessman of Kerala
Tourism Man of the Year 2000
Malayala Manorama Newsmaker of the Year 2011
TMA Manager of the Year 2000
ATTOI Tourism Man of the Year 2011
Website kochousephchittilappilly.com

Kochouseph Thomas Chittilappilly is an Indian businessperson, writer,[1] philanthropist and humanist.[2] He is the founder[3] Chairman [4] of V-Guard Industries Ltd[5] and a chain of amusement parks called Wonderla.[6] K. Chittilappilly Foundation, a non profit organization founded by him is engaged in charitable and philanthropic activities.[7] Chittilappilly is a recipient of the Rashtriya Samman award from the Government of India for being among the highest taxpayers[8] and the Newsmaker of the Year 2011 award from Malayala Manorama.[9] As the chairman of the Stray Dog Free movement, he has advocated for government action to address the "menace" of stray dogs in his home state of Kerala, and has criticized legislation forbidding the killing of stray dogs.[10]

Biography

Kochouseph Chittilappilly was born to C. O. Thomas in Parappur, a suburb of Thrissur in the south Indian state of Kerala in 1950.[11] His early schooling was at the local church school after which he graduated from Christ College, Irinjalakuda and followed it with a masters degree in Physics from St. Thomas College, Thrissur in 1970.[11] His career kick started in 1973 at Telics, a Thiruvananthapuram based electronics company manufacturing voltage stabilizers and emergency lamps, in the capacity of a supervisor where he worked for three years.[3]

In 1977, he founded V-Guard Industries, a small electronics manufacturing unit for the production of voltage stabilizers with a capital of 100,000.[2] The company which had 2 employees at its modest manufacturing facility in Thrissur at inception, grew over the years to become the largest selling stabilizer brand in India.[12] The company claims to have 500 distributors, 3000 dealers, 20,000 retailers and a network of service centres across India[13] supporting a product range composed of Pumps and Motors, Electric and Solar Water Heaters, Wiring Cables, UPS, and Ceiling Fans.[11] The company has an Indian market share of 20 percent in UPS segment, 15 percent in pumps, 12 percent in water heaters and 7 percent in wiring cables segments.[12]

Chittilapilly is reported to have introduced a new business model by total product outsourcing coupled with in-house quality control when his factories were shut down following a workers' strike in the 1980s.[2] Later, diversifying the business, he started the first water theme park in the state of Kerala under the name, Veegaland, in 2000.[11] Another park on a larger scale, Wonderla, was subsequently started in Bengaluru.[11] Veegaland has since been renamed as Wonderla Kochi, in an effort to establish the name as a brand.[14][15] Veegaland Developers is another venture by Kochouseph Chittillappilly that is in to construction of ready to occupy flats and apartments in Cochin

Chittilapilly is married to Sheila and the couple has two sons Arun Chittilappilly and Mithun Chittilappilly. Sheila is the Managing Director of V-Star Creations, a group company. Arun heads the amusement park business, Wonderla and Mithun is the incumbent Managing Director of V-Guard Industries.[2]

Writing career

Chittilappilly published his first book, Practical Wisdom, in 2005, which is an account of practical management techniques he derived from his personal experiences.[3][16] Two more books in the same series followed, Practical Wisdom 1: In Real Life and Management (2010)[17] and Practical Wisdom 2: In Real Life and Management (2012).[18] In between, he published his autobiographical work, Ormakkilivathil (Down Memory Lane) in 2011[19] which had forewrod written by renowned Malayalam writer, T. Padmanabhan.[20]

Bibliography

Philanthropic and humanitarian activities

K. Chittilapilly Foundation, founded by Kochouseph Chittilapilly, is a non profit organization and serves as the conduit for his philanthropic activities.[21] The foundation, based in Kakkanadu, Kochi, also oversees the activities of Thomas Chittilapilly Trust, another charitable venture of Chittilapilly which is named after his father and runs two institutions, an old age home where elderly people are housed and provided with sustenance and medical care, and Shantimandiram, a home for destitute children where they are provided with shelter, education and food. The institutions are managed by the Sisters of Nirmala Province, a provincialate of catholic nuns located at Kolazhy in Thrissur. It has also instituted an organ donation award for recognising people who come forward for organ donation and to promote organ donation among people. The foundation offers awards for those who voluntarily donate their own organs or to families who donate the organs of their brain-dead relatives; the awards carry cash components ranging from 100,000 to 500,000, totaling 3.7 million every year.[21]

In 2011, Chittilapilly donated one of his kidneys to a stranger, a truck driver, and started an organ donor chain - where one of the family members of the recipient had to donate an organ thereby forming a donor chain.[2] As a part of the programme, Chittilapilly donated one of his kidneys to a truck driver, becoming the first depositor with the Kidney Federation of India (KFI) and is now closely associated with the movement.[4]

Stray Dog Free movement

Chittilappilly is the chairman of the Stray Dog Free movement, which advocates action against the risks allegedly posed by stray dogs in Kerala, including the amendment of legislation forbidding the killing of these dogs.[22] The movement has pointed to the danger of rabies and referred to stray dogs as a "menace".[23] Chittilappilly has staged hunger strikes to protest this legislation, and what he claims is governmental failure to address this issue.[10][24] He has stated that the government's actions amount to valuing stray dogs over human lives and property.[25] He has encouraged citizens to pressure the government to amend these laws, and to kill stray dogs themselves despite the accompanying 50-rupee fine.[23][26] Chittilappilly has been arrested under statutes preventing cruelty to animals after tying four stray dogs in front of a police station.[27]

The movement is related to governmental plans to cull stray dogs which have prompted an international campaign to "Boycott Kerala Tourism".[22][28][29] Opponents of the Stray Dog Free movement have argued that vaccination and spay/neuter campaigns are a more effective and humane method of controlling the stray dog population. Members of the Stray Dog Free movement have alleged that opposition is being funded by rabies vaccine manufacturers.[30]

Awards

Chittilapilly is a recipient of Rashtriya Samman from the Government of India for being the highest tax payer in India.[3][14] He was selected as the Malayala Manorama Newsmaker of the year 2011, the year he became an organ donor, the award reaching him in 2012.[9] He is also a recipient of awards such as Millennium Businessman of Kerala from Business Deepika,[3] Tourism Man of the Year 2000 from Destination Kerala,[3] Manager of the Year 2000 from the Travancore Management Association and Tourism Man of the Year 2011 from the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India (ATTOI).[14]

See also

References

  1. "Amazon profile". Amazon. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kochouseph Chittilappilly: Founder of V-Guard Industries does 'unconventional' things". Economic Times. 22 May 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kochouseph Thomas Chittilappilly". Business Week.
  4. 1 2 Shaju Philip (January 19, 2011). "Businessman donates kidney to truck driver, sets off chain reaction". The Indian Express. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  5. M.G. Radhakrishnan (Nov 28, 2008). "Against the current : UNUSUAL ENTREPRENEURS—INNOVATORS". India Today.
  6. "Founder's profile". V Guard. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. "K Chittilappilly Foundation". K Chittilappilly Foundation. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. "Bloomberg profile". Bloomberg. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "V Guard MD selected as 'Newsmaker of the Year 2011". NDTV. 9 January 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "A day's strike to tackle stray menace". The Hindu. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Leaders of Kerala profile" (PDF). Leaders of Kerala. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Stabilising Effect". Value Research Online. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  13. "V-Guard Story". V-Guard. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 "Dakshin Personality of the Month". Dakshin Routes. 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  15. "Wonderla Kochi". Wonderla Kochi. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  16. Kochouseph Chittilappilly (2005). Practical Wisdom. DC Books. ASIN B007E4Y8NA.
  17. Kochouseph Chittilappilly (2010). Practical Wisdom 1: In Real Life and Management. Viva Books. p. 250. ISBN 978-8130923987.
  18. Kochouseph Chittilappilly (2012). Practical Wisdom 2: In Real Life and Management. Viva Books. p. 144. ISBN 978-8130921198.
  19. Kochouseph Chittilappilly (2011). Ormakkilivathil. DC Books. ISBN 978-8126431243.
  20. "Indulekha Ormakkilivathil". Indulekha. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Chittilappilly Foundation declares organ donation awards". Times of India. 12 February 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Kerala's Leading Businessman Goes on Hunger Strike Against Street Dogs". NDTV.com. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  23. 1 2 "Chittilappilly Stages Fast Against Stray Dog Menace". The New Indian Express. 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  24. "Chittilappilly to stage hunger strike in T'puram". The Times of India. 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  25. Basheer, KPM (2015-10-20). "A dogged drive against stray dogs". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  26. "Chittilappilly launches hunger strike over stray dog menace". Mathrubhumi. 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  27. "Chittilappilly booked for cruelty against strays". The Times of India. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  28. Mohan, Neethu (2015-07-14). "Stray dogs culling: Boycott Kerala campaign gains momentum". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  29. "How far will India's dog-lovers go to save strays?". BBC News. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  30. Ajeesh, A. (2016-02-20). "NGOs opposing culling of stray dogs financed by anti-rabies vaccine lobby: Collector Biju Prabhakar". Prokerala.
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