Marathi developer hosts guests

But a Marathi-speaking land developer is offering free accommodation to delegates arriving for the conference. Sudhir Panare hopes his gesture would unite Kannadigas and Marathi-speaking people.

Panare, a resident of the city, is constructing a multi-storey building at Kolhapur Cross, about half a kilometre from the district stadium, the venue of the convention. Seven rooms at Sai Sadan, the building under construction, will house about 20 guests. Work on a war footing is on to get four more rooms ready to host high profile guests.

Hospitality

"Belgaum is hosting a major event like world Kannada convention and we locals need to come forward to provide hospitality to the visitors. The conference will put the city on the world literary map. Businesses will improve and there will be influx of people in lakhs in future,” said Panare. “For such mega events, the government alone cannot accommodate all. It is a social responsibility of the people also to house the guests,” Panare added.