The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Record-breaking Rs. 184-crore boost for Kannada and culture

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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Record-breaking Rs. 184-crore boost for Kannada and culture

K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

Allocation for the department has increased by 70 per cent from last year

Bangalore: The development of Kannada and culture has received a big boost with the allocation of Rs. 184 crore in the Budget proposals for various programmes and schemes to be implemented under the Department of Kannada and Culture.

For the first time in the history of the State, a whopping Rs. 184 crore has been earmarked for the department, which hitherto was a neglected department in terms of budgetary allocation. Indeed, it was one of those departments which hardly had any political significance.

The funds, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has allocated in the current budget, are around 70 per cent more than what was earmarked in the 2007-2008 Karnataka Budget, which envisaged more number of programmes, including the Vishwa Kannada Sammelana. The overall allocation of funds is in contrast to the random allocation of funds for various programmes proposed in the two previous budgets he presented as the Deputy Chief Minister holding Finance portfolio in the erstwhile Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP coalition.

Programmes

This budget proposes several programmes. The plan to set up an NRI Cell in Bangalore, to provide requisite information and extend support to Non-Resident Kannadigas, has come as an interesting development on the cultural front in the light of the three-day Vishwa Kannada Sammelan to be held at Chicago in the last week of August under the aegis of the U.S.-based AKKA.

Although many proposed programmes such as book publication, purchasing books, constructions of Kannada Bhavans at important places in the border districts are not new, the allocation of specific amount for some of the programmes has facilitated renewed interest in them.

Interestingly, the proposal to allocate Rs. 5 crore for the proposed Rajkumar Memorial has figured in the list of developments for Kannada and culture.

Details

Programmes envisaged for the development of Kannada and culture are: Rs. 25 crore for holding Vishwa Kannada Sammelana in Belgaum this fiscal; a special grant of Rs. 10 crore for holding “Nada Habba” during Dasara; a museum for showcasing Kannada heritage to be set up in Bangalore at an estimated Rs. 5 crore; earmarking Rs. 5 crore for purchasing 3,500 Kannada titles for the libraries across the State; Rs. 1 crore for facilitating the translations of Kannada literary works into regional and foreign languages, including English; Rs. 1 crore for the development of Kannada software; the Department of Archives would be provided adequate funds for undertaking the publications of historical documents and books pertaining to Old Mysore and other administrative regions of the State; Rs. 1 crore for the annual Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelan to be held in Chitradurga; a similar amount for establishing Allama Prabhu Literature Research Centre; Rs. 3 crore for the Panchakshari Gavayi Math towards educational and Dasoha activities; establishing Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre at an estimated Rs. 5 crore in Mysore; Rs. 1 crore for the construction of Rangamandira in Gulbarga; and assistance of Rs. 1 crore each to Shivayogi Shishunala Sharief’s shrine, development of Sangolli Rayanna Memorial at Belgaum and K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi Research Centre.

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