from Vinay Pais
for Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (GA)

Kundapur, Apr 18: The mini bus gifted by Infosys Foundation president Dr Sudha Murthy to Uppinakudru Sri Ganesha Yakshagana puppet show troupe has finally managed to get tax exemption from the government.

This was announced by troupe president Bhaskar Kogga Kamath here recently.  Obviously he was very much elated and expressed his gratitude towards everyone who had worked for this. The said bus was lying idle for the last one year despite its being registered since it had not got tax exemption.

Bhaskar Kogga Kamath specially thanked the Udupi district president of JD (S) Deviprasad Shetty for the prominent role that he played in getting the exemption.  "Shetty has breathed a new lease of life into this art of puppetry which is almost on the verge of extinction," he said.

The Background:

A Dog in the Manger Policy:

Infosys Foundation of Bangalore had donated minibus worth Rs 5 lac to the puppet troupe of Kundapur known as “Shri Ganesh Gombeyata”. The bus had been lying idle for the past one year due to the bureaucratic attitude f the concerned government departments.

The stand taken by the RTO officials was that the mini bus, though donated for the purpose of propagating the 300-year-old art of puppetry could not be exempted from payment of registration and such other taxes. Bhaskar Kamath the sole proprietor of the board on the other hand pleaded his helplessness in that he was not in a position to compensate the loss by running the bus on hire at times of financial crunch.

When officials contacted Department of Kannada and Culture, they said that they did not have any documents whatsoever related to the board of the Shri Ganesha Gombeyata.  There was no dispute about the fact that this ancient art had been nourished, preserved and propagated by the ancestors of Uppinakudru Bhaskar Kogga Kamath.  But the concerned departments of the government were totally ignorant of the services rendered and the awards won by the family living in a remote undeveloped village of Uppinakudru near here.

All this while this mini bus was a sad sight to observe lying idle and was like a gift in the horse's mouth.