Primary education in mother tongue must: Minister

Revenue and District In-charge Minister V Srinivas Prasad on Sunday felt that amendment to  Constitution is essential to impart primary education either in mother tongue or regional language. If it happens, it will also go a long way in protecting and conserving Kannada language in the State, he added.

Addressing the gathering during the Karnataka Rajyotsava programme, Prasad said, “If Kannada has to survive as a language and the State has to develop further, it is imperative to teach in the initial stage of education in mother tongue.
The Union government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has to take up the issue on priority and also take interest in protecting the interests of Kannadigas.”

 Demanding the intervention of Modi to solve the Kalasa-Banduri issue, Prasad said the prime minister has to convene the meeting of chief ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa to resolve the issue.

Prasad, however, regretted that the problems related to water-sharing and boundary, have snowballed into burning issues creating a rift between communities. These issues should be treated as a particular problem rather than paving way for clashes between different language-speaking people like Kannadigas, Tamilians and Marathis. The issue related to water-sharing can also be solved through talks as tribunal is not the only channel to find a solution, he observed.

According to the recommendations of Sarojini Mahishi report, Kannadigas should be given due opportunities in Centre-owned institutes and offices in the State. It should be made a national policy and the Centre should take immediate take note of this point, he added.

Prasad recalled the formation of Karnataka State from 19 districts of then Mysore (now Mysuru) state during the tenure of then Chief Minister D Devaraj Urs. By the time India became independent, Mysore province had rich essecne of Kannada unlike other parts of the  State that had split with Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad provinces. Now, Karnataka is a rich State with 30 districts, he described. Prasad also lauded the contribution of then influential leader Kengal Hanumantaiah in the formation of Karnataka State.

CD released

A CD of video song ‘Barisu Kannada Dimdimava...’ produced by renowned wildlife photographers duo Kripakar-Senani with music by Poornachandra Tejsavi of ‘Lucia’ film fame, was also released on the occasion.  The duration of song is six minutes. It was simultaneously released across the State.

Colourful procession

The inaugural session was followed by a colourful procession taken out by various Kannada organisations and Kannada activists. BEML Kannada Sangha had designed a tableau with the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari and  protraits of seven Jnanpith award winners of the State - Kuvempu, Da Ra Bendre, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, V K Gokak, Girish Karnad, U R Anantha Murthy and Chandrashekhar Kambar.

A tableau titled ‘Kannada Theru’ by Department of Information and Public Relations and another by city police with an idol of Bhuvaneshwari were also a part of the procession.

A specially-abled person, who had decorated his three-wheeler with flexboards painted with a picture of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, Mysore Palace amd sporting Kannada flags, was the highlight.

Another Kannada activist held a placard demanding for the implementation of Kalasa-Banduri project and a slogan against Goa chief minister. Students from D Banumaiah’s Boys High School and Vani Vilasa Arasu Girls High School also took part in the procession.