The Hindu : Academies told to fund Dept. of Kannada's jubilee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 08, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Academies told to fund Dept. of Kannada's jubilee

By K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

BANGALORE May 7. Can the Government "insist'' on all its autonomous bodies to hold mega cultural events with voluntary financial participation under one roof? If yes, the Department of Kannada and Culture is justified in holding four mega cultural events in all four revenue divisions of the State and at three places outside and celebrate its silver jubilee with "voluntary contributions" from 10 academies and the Kannada Book Authority (KBA).

Following the enhancement of its budgetary allocation by Rs. four crore (now it gets an annual grant of Rs. 6.35 crore towards Plan expenditure and Rs. 12.93 crore towards non-Plan expenditure) the department convened a meeting of its officials and chairpersons of 10 academies on April 9. It discussed on holding grand cultural events in Madhugiri, Virajapet, Bidar, and Belguam in Bangalore, Mysore, Gulbarga, and Belguam revenue divisions respectively. It suggested that similar events should be held in Delhi, Kasargod, and Goa. Besides, the meeting sought contribution from all academies and the KBA for holding the department's silver jubilee celebrations. On the financial front, it suggested to the academies and the KBA to chalk out a comprehensive programme and ensure a minimum financial participation of Rs. 50,000 for each division, another Rs. one lakh for holding programmes in Horanadau area and an additional Rs. one lakh towards its Silver Jubilee.

The representatives of academies and the KBA first thought that it would not be a burden for them to spare Rs. 2.5 lakh in the wake of enhanced annual grants. After the enhancement of annual grants, Sahitya, Nataka, Lalitha Kala, Janapada, and Sangeeta Nrutya academies get an annual grant of Rs. 14 lakh towards Plan expenditure and Rs. 8.35 lakh towards non-Plan expenditure. The Urdu Academy gets Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 8.35 lakh towards Plan and non-Plan expenditure respectively. The Tulu, Kodava, Konkani, and Shilpa Kala academies get only Rs. 14 lakh each for Plan expenditure. The KBA gets Rs. 50 lakh for Plan expenditure. But when clarification was sought, they were in for a shock as the department expected every academy to contribute Rs. 50,000 for each division besides another Rs. one lakh each for holding Horanadu programmes and also provide contribution for the proposed silver jubilee.

Although the officials, who participated in April 9 meeting were tight-lipped as they were part of the official machinery, chairpersons and members of the academies, particularly Janapada and Sahitya, appeared to be in a mood to confront the Government realising the cascading financial burden on them.

Holding a function under one roof by all academies and the KBA at the divisional level and Horanadu areas does not make any sense. The function may turn out to be a chaotic shandy with no purpose to achieve and result in wasteful expenditure. The department has exhibited its cultural bankruptcy by seeking contributions from academies, as it should have known that some of the academies were older than the reconstituted department. If it wanted to hold programmes it had its own annual funds to spend. Expecting Rs. four lakh from every academy will mean that these bodies will have to surrender their enhanced annual grant. The attitude of the department towards the academies in this context is reprehensible, sources feel.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that the Government, which is apparently keen on minimising expenditure, has orally asked various departments not to spend the grant amount.

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