Sumanth Kashyap
Daijiworld Media Network- Beltangady

Beltangady, Sep 16: Multi-faceted resource person and programme officer for Indian languages for the NGO Centre for society and Internet Dr U B Pavanaja conducted a day long workshop on writing and editing for the Kannada version of Wikipedia at SDM College on Sunday 15 September.

Expressing concern about the sorry state of Kannada language, he stated “Kannada is dying a slow death due to the ignorance of those people who proclaim themselves as protectors of Kannada.” If Kannada can be revived it is possible only by information literature rather than literature for entertainment.

Opining about the peoples’ craze towards education in English, he said that fascination towards English education is justified as it provides global exposure and increases competitiveness of an individual. This is one major reason for the stunted growth of Kannada language. There are just around 40,000 write ups in Kannada Wikipedia and there is a grave necessity for Kannada writing, he added.

Journalism department head professor Bhaskar Hegde and Computer Science department head professor Shailesh Kumar were present on the occasion.

The workshop was organised by Media Messengers club of Journalism department of the college. Abhilash P S , student, welcomed the guest and gathering. Chandrashekar, student, proposed vote of thanks and Kalpana, a student, compered the event.