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Politicians may dominate sammelan inauguration

By Our Staff Correspondent

Belgaum March 5. Politicians will dominate the inaugural function of 70th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan. Of the 15 guests slated for the inaugural function on Friday, 11 are politicians. The Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, will inaugurate the literary conference. The other politicians likely to be present on the dais include the Reception Committee Chairman and Agriculture Minister, V.S.Koujalgi, the Working Chairman of the Committee, Prabhakar Kore, the Minister of State for Kannada and Culture, Rani Satish, the AIJD leader, P.G.R.Sindhia, the Minister for Primary and Higher Secondary Education, B.K.Chandrashekar, the Tourism Minister, D.B.Inamdar, the Belgaum MLA, Ramesh Kudachi, the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association President, K.Sippe Gowda, the Chikodi MP, Ramesh Jigajinagi, and the Belgaum MP, Amarsinh Patil.

Among the literary figures invited are the Kannada Sahitya Parishat President, Harikrishna Punaroor, the litterateur, U.R.Ananthamurthy, the sammelan President, Patil Puttappa, and the district Kannada Sahitya Parishat President, S.M.Haradgatti.

The sahitya sammelan is being compared to the 73rd Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Belgaum in April 2000.

The General Secretary of 73rd Marathi Sammelan, Anand Mense, told The Hindu that politicians who had no literary background or contribution were never allowed on the "mantap" (dais) in Marathi sammelans. In fact, politicians themselves chose to sit among the audience. Even at the Belgaum conference, the then Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, and other ministers sat with the audience despite the fact that Maharashtra Government had provided Rs. 25 lakh for the event. Politicians like late Y.B.Chavan, who himself was a writer, used to sit with the audience. But this was not the case with Kannada sammelans where almost every politician was eager to be on the dais.

Citing the projected expenditure of Rs. 1.25 crore for Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Mr. Mense said for the Marathi Sammelan, in addition to Rs. 25 lakh provided by Maharashtra Government, an equal amount was collected from the members of the public and from institutions. Of this, only Rs. 8 lakh was spent on erection of pendals (15,000 chairs) with electrification, generator set, audio-video systems, decoration of the main stage, 105 stalls for book exhibition, temporary bathrooms and toilets at Jyoti College ground which is much bigger than the district stadium (venue of the Kannada conference). A delegation fee of Rs. 500 was collected from 700 delegates to provide boarding and lodging, besides food for the thousands of people attending the conference held for three days. After all the expenditure, nearly Rs. 20 lakh was surplus. Wherever possible, expenses were cut; instead of a garland, a rose was presented to the invitees. In fact, the President of the sammelan, Y.D.Phadke, refused to accept allowances and stayed in a house rather than a hotel.

"Sahitya sammelan is for a specific cause and purpose but not a wedding ceremony or a government event. It has to be simple and neat and concentrate mainly on issues pertaining to literature and literary culture," Mr. Mense said.

On the contrary, the government machinery is being used to raise funds for the Kannada Sahitya Sammelan. The office of the Sub-Registrar is allegedly collecting not less than Rs. 500 from individuals approaching it for registration of property. It is alleged that the cooperative societies have been told to contribute Rs. 5,000 each. A day's salary of employees in educational institutions and the Belgaum City Corporation is being deducted, allegedly without intimation.

The Reception Committee Chairman, Haradgatti, told The Hindu that Rs. 15 lakh was being spent on the pendal, 300 bookstalls, electrification, decoration of the main stage, and audio system. This was besides the expenditure on closed-circuit television, and the media centre.

He said that a delegate fee of Rs. 100 would be collected from about 10,000 delegates. The transactions would be transparent. Even while allotting the contract for the pendal, tenders were invited.

The Sammelan Treasurer, Shivakumar Sambargimath, charted accountant known for his professional integrity, told The Hindu that he would be in a position to submit the accounts within two months after the sammelan.

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