Tulu Bhavan may be a reality soon
State govt sanctions Rs. 2 crore to construct building
Seventeen years after constituting Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, the State government has come forward to construct a Tulu Bhavan, by sanctioning Rs 2 crore to house the administrative office of the Academy in Mangalore.
The Academy was constituted in 1994 when M Veerappa Moily was Chief Minister of Karnataka. Since then, the Academy had been functioning from a rented building of the Mangalore City Corporation.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Academy Chairperson Dr Palthadi Ramakrishna Achar said the proposal of Rs 4.8 crore project to construct the bhavan near Urwa Stores was submitted to the government in 2010. Of which, the government had sanctioned Rs 2 crore and the funds have been deposited in the account of the Deputy Commissioner. The government had earmarked 50 cents of land to the academy near Urwa Stores.
It may be recalled that it was Academy former president M K Seetharam Kulal who mooted the idea of the bhavan in 2006 at an estimated cost of Rs 2.46 crore. The proposal had been pending before the government since then. When Kulal had submitted the proposal, the Kannada and Culture department had agreed to pay a sum of Rs 50 lakh towards the Bhavan and had asked the Academy to raise funds from the donors.
Dr Achar said “the Academy had revised the original building plan sent by Kulal. According to the revised plan, the building will have space for parking vehicles on the ground floor.
The academy’s office would be on the first floor. It will have a hall on the second floor and a museum-cum-guesthouse on the third floor.” As money has been released by the Kannada and Culture department Commissioner to the Deputy Commissioner’s account, the DC has to invite for a tender. In the meantime, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has agreed to lay foundation for the building. However, the date is yet to be fixed, he added.
It is said that the Academy has to pay a rent of Rs 8,000 to the MCC every month. Moreover, as MCC has lack of space, it has been pressurising the Tulu Academy to shift.
Tulu sammelan in Puttur on Oct 7, 8
Karnataka Tulu Sahithya Academy President Dr Palthadi Ramakrishna Achar said that the Academy will organise a Tulu Sammelan at Savanoor in Puttur taluk on October 7 and 8.
To demand for the inclusion of Tulu in the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution, the Academy will organise a meeting ‘Delhig Bale’ on October 23, he informed.
