Handbook on State in great demand

Out of print

It’s not on the bestseller list, nor has it gone viral on the net.

Yet, it is one of the most sought after pieces of literature, having caught the fancy of not just KAS aspirants, medical and software professionals, but also corporate houses, all of whom are making a beeline to the nondescript official buildings in Bangalore City to grab themselves a copy of it.

So it’s not surprising if you’ve gone looking for ‘A Handbook of Karnataka’ or its Kannada counterpart, ‘Karnataka Kaipidi’, and have come back empty handed. But don’t be disappointed.

It’s only a matter of a few months before the Karnataka Gazetteer Department replenishes the collection, which it has been publishing for the last 15-odd years. So huge is the demand for the books that presently they are out of stock, said the department’s chief editor Neela Manjunath.

“We have been getting a lot of enquiries, but unfortunately the books are completely sold out. The handbooks are like ready reckoners. It has a lot of basic yet useful information of the State of Karnataka. Though we’ve had steady stream of KAS aspirants and other professionals seeking a copy of the book, of late we have had corporate firms and tourists also making enquiries,” she said.

The department which was earlier planning to revise the handbook has now decided to reprint 3,000 copies each of Kannada and English versions, before incorporating the revisions.

The English handbook was compiled by a group of editors in the department in 1995 when historian Suryanath Kamat was serving as the chief editor. Unlike other gazetteers which have 17 chapters, the handbook has only 14 chapters.

The book had less than 400 pages and was priced at Rs 160. The Kannada version was published during the subsequent year, but the demand for it wasn’t as much as it was for the English book.

The department printed the book in 2001, 2005 and 2010. The fourth edition, which was multicoloured, was printed using art paper and map litho paper, and it was instantly sold out. With KPSC setting aside 20 marks only for aspects pertaining to Karnataka, the demand for the Kannada book too started picking up.

In 2011, the department released 3,000 copies of Karnataka Kaipidi’s second version, and they have all been sold out.

While the Kannada book will be released in June, the English version will be out by the end of the year. The books will be priced at around Rs 500. The books are made available at the office of the Department on KG Road, the government sales depot in MS Building, and at the government press in Mysore, Gulbarga and Dharwad.

Department losing sheen

The Department which started off with 17 editors, later downsized to 11 editors. However, for the last four years, the department is functioning with only four editors, as the seven others have either retired or have gone back to their parent department.

The government has not filled up these posts, as a result of which, the Department has resorted outsourcing most of its work to scholars from across the State.

Presently the Department has five major projects - Publication of revised editions of District Gazetteer volumes and State Gazetteer volumes; publication of revised edition of 'A Hand Book of Karnataka'; publication of Taluk Gazetteers of Karnataka State; Special publications like ‘Tourism Gazetteer’, ‘Jewels of Administration’, ‘Celebrated Diwans of Princely Mysore State’, etc; and Scanning and reprinting of rare gazetteer volumes which are in demand.