The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Questions raised over financial tenability of Bengalooru Habba

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Sunday, Dec 10, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Questions raised over financial tenability of Bengalooru Habba

Divya Gandhi

Organisers accused of not clearing bills of service providers

Bangalore: As the week's festivities as part of Bengalooru Habba draw to a close, questions are likely to be asked about the financial tenability of its future. The organisers have pulled off yet another cultural treat for the city, offering varied fare at no cost to the audiences. Funding for the habba has come largely from corporate sponsors.

Yet there remains an underlying sense of disillusionment among the large number of service providers who were responsible in holding the show together.

A prominent art director who has executed the design and ambience component for virtually every event at the habba — from kiosks to information hoardings — said: "While the artistes were paid well and even given an advance amount sometimes, peripheral expenses like my work were just not given priority," he says.

He attributes this however to "bad management, not bad intentions."

An industrialist who worked for the habba "out of sheer love for theatre" says the organisers have not paid him yet for the work he has done over the last two years. He claims that they owe him Rs. 1.3 lakh for his supplies of fabricated metal tripods for advertisement hoardings, and for the stalls on Mahatma Gandhi Road.

Nandini Alva, one of the organisers of the habba denies the allegations of pending dues. "Ninety percent of the pending bills have been taken care of this year," she said.

Contrary to popular perception, the State Government has not given funds to the habba over the last four years, says Ms Alva, adding that she and Padmini Ravi had to put in "several lakhs" of their personal money to the event.

Sponsorship for the habba might now be getting a boost from Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise managing director Ashok Kheny.

Mr. Kheny told The Hindu that for every rupee that the habba organisers raise, he will match the amount to an upper limit of Rs. 1 crore. "Nandini Alva and Padmini Ravi can now concentrate on putting on an even better show," he said.

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