The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Selection of delegates for AKKA meet draws flak

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Selection of delegates for AKKA meet draws flak

K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

Yeddyurappa will inaugurate it on August 29 in Chicago

Government has chosen 57 persons to represent the State at the meet
Visa applications of 11 of these persons have been rejected

BANGALORE: The Government’s decision to select 57 persons to represent the State at the fifth biennial World Kannada Convention, organised by the U.S-based Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA), has come under criticism from sections of the literary and cultural establishment here.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is scheduled to inaugurate the three-day convention on August 29 in Chicago.

Sources said that U.S. visa authorities in Chennai had rejected the applications of 11 of the 57 persons. This had inspired “vested interests in the Government” to nominate yet another set of people.

The Department of Kannada and Culture will have to bear an estimated Rs. 65 lakh towards travel and other expenses of the 57 delegates. Contrast this with the funds to the various academies. The Government has allocated an estimated non-plan annual grant of just Rs. 20 lakh to each of the 11 academies.

A number of Ministers, MLAs and MLCs will be part of the Chief Minister’s entourage, and they will go to the U.S. at the Government’s expense.

The names of most delegates announced by the Government also figure in the list of dignitaries invited by AKKA. Its president Ramesh Gowda had said at a recent press conference here that the organisation would bear all the expenses of those it had invited personally. However, it would not bear the expenses of those who participated in the event either on their own or at the behest of the Government. AKKA would provide board and lodging as a matter of courtesy, he said.

Mr. Gowda said that AKKA had invited C. Ashwath’s musical troupe, film director Nagabharana and his drama troupe, writers S.L. Bhyrappa, Chandrashekar Kambar, Jayanth Kaikini and P.K. Rajashekhar. However, barring Prof. Bhyrappa and Mr. Kaikini, the other names he referred to also figure in the Government’s list.

Mr. Gowda gave these clarifications in the light of what happened in the past. On the eve of AKKA’s first-ever convention in Houston in 2000, the Government committed a faux pas by announcing that it would sponsor all those who had invitations from AKKA, kicking off a controversy.

In response to queries on the procedure followed in the selection of delegates to the AKKA conference, Director of Kannada and Culture Manu Baligar that there was no set procedure to select delegates. “I can only comply with Government’s orders,” he said.

The Government has reportedly sanctioned Rs. 1.25 lakh to each representative, though it is likely to be increased to Rs. 1.5 lakh. The Department of Kannada and Culture incurs an overall expenditure of Rs. 30 lakh towards presenting 14 annual awards, including the cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh for the Basaveshwara Award and Rs. 1.5 lakh for Chowdiah Award.

The Government has not presented the awards for two years, nor has it reconstituted the committees that manage the 11 academies since March 31.

Is Mr. Yeddyurappa aware of the state of affairs in the Department of Kannada and Culture that is part of his portfolio?

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