Media Release

Mangaluru, Dec 12: Konkani Writers and Artistes Association (KWAA) has lauded the efforts of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy president Dr Jagadish Pai in getting Rs 5 crore grant from the state government to set up Konkani Bhavan. Soon after being appointed as president, Dr Pai got into action and in association with the elected representatives, he contacted the Kannada and Culture minister and officials concerned and succeeded in getting the grant for Konkani Bhavan. By doing so he has fulfilled the long pending demand of Konkani speaking people of the coastal districts.

It may be recalled that earlier KWAA had opposed the move by the then chief minister Siddaramaiah to allot a grant of Rs 5 crore to construct a museum to a private organization which was incurring loss to the tunes of crores of rupees for the last so many years ignoring a fully functional Konkani Sahithya Academy.

KWAA had requested the government to stop allotting funds to a private entity which was under loss. Instead it had requested the government to set up Konkani Bhavan and also the museum in its own site on the model of Tulu Bhavan.

Mangaluru has many institutions which have been working for promoting the cause of Konkani. Moreover, the academy does not have a site of its own. KWAA president Ronald Sequeira and secretary Florine Roche have expressed that it would be better to build the proposed Konkani Bhavan in Karwar which had laid the foundation for unifying the fragmented Konkani community in 1939 or in any other part of Uttara Kannada which lack such institutions