Udupi: Minister Assures Setting Up of Kannada Bhavana at Dist Sahitya Sammelan
News: Shekar Ajekar
Pics: Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore SB)
Udupi, Mar 20: The two-day sixth Kannada sahitya sammelan (KSS) of the district was inaugurated at the Ambalpady temple premises here on Saturday March 20.
Home minister Dr V S Achraya inaugurating the sammelan suggested that Karantha Vana here would be ideal to set up Kannada Bhavana in reply to the litterateurs demand for establishment of Kannada Bhavana in the district. Minister further assured to moot the demand if the proposal in this regard is submitted to the state government soon. He added that state government has sanctioned an additional fund of Rs 1 crore for the zilla panchayat (ZP) maintenance works, reiterating state government’s commitment to grassroot level.
Dr Acharya called on the litterateurs to shun negative thinking and contribute to the literary field selflessly. The elders’ experience should be the path to follow and one needs to plan for tomorrow to keep up with changing times, he added.
Former president of state Kannada Sahitya Parishad (KSP) Hariskrishna Punaroor released 14 books including four brought out by KSS committee on the occasion. He stressed that Kannada has to be introduced compulsorily as a language at the school level barring medium of instruction. He called on litterateurs to produce literature that are pleasant and not the ones that fuel differences.
Speaking on the occasion, president of fifth district sammelan and litterateur Na Mogasaale handing over the flag to the current president U P Upadhyaya said that the coastal region has been an apt example throughout for harmony between languages and culture. Citing the example of the government fund of Rs 7.5 crore sanctioned to the department of Kannada and culture remaining unutilized and thereby lapsing due to laziness of the department concerned, Mogasaale called on to work towards the development of the language and not lament about financial difficulties.
Further, Mogasaale stressed on the need to provide perks to the president of district sahitya sammelan as well as honour them as guests in every government programmes with facilities such as provision of transport and daily allowances during the year long tenure as a mark of due respect.
Presiding over the sammelan, Upadhyaya said that there is a crying need to develop a sense of pride among Kannadigas about their mother tongue. In this background, holding sammelans such as these are fruitful. It is very important that one needs to take pride in his or her mother tongue and stop being partial to other languages, he observed.
Town municipality president Dinaker Shetty, ZP president Gladys Almeida, Dakshina Kannada district KSP president Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, district KSP president Ambatanaya Mudrady and N B Vijay Ballal of temple committee were present.
Various literary sessions and discussions were part of the day’s deliberations apart from various cultural events. The cultural programme was inaugurated on Friday March 19.