Malappuram: Kodinhi, a small village in Malappuram district, has an international fame for all the right reasons. It has the world’s highest twinning rate with over 300 twins within a radius of four square kilometres. Along with fame has also come exploitation by the unscrupulous who earn huge amounts from national and international media which queue up to focus on the phenomenon.
As the locals have complained about the middlemen cheating them by taking money from the news agencies, the local council has planned to restrict the media coverage. The guidelines will be finalised at a meeting to be organized by the Nannambra panchayat on Friday, said president M.P. Muhammed Hasan.
“The exploitation has led to a lot of complaints causing negative publicity to the place which has a unique international fame. The acts of middlemen benefit neither the parents nor the twins. We plan to change the way people deal with media groups from outside,” Mr Hasan said. The panchayat notification to the parents concerned said that the meet would discuss the welfare of twins.
A controversy had arisen recently over the handling of foreigners who come here to write or shoot documentaries about the twins. Last month, a Mumbai-based team shot a video to be used allegedly for the ad campaign of a multinational food chain. The angry villagers alleged that the middlemen who facilitated the shooting made a hefty amount of money from the deal. “Any further arrangements for foreign media will be in accordance with the decision to be taken at the meeting called by the panchayat,” said Mr P. Bhaskaran, president of the Twins’ and Kin’s Association of Kodinhi.
