NSD finally gets land for school

The first non-Delhi campus to come up at BU

The State government has finally handed over three acres of land to the National School of Drama (NSD) on the Bangalore University campus, formalising the procedure after a delay of almost three years.

Department of Kannada and Culture Commissioner Manu Baligar and NSD Director Anuradha Kapur signed the MoU in the presence of Kannada and Culture Minister Govind Karjol in Bangalore on Friday.

In March 2009, Karnataka had decided to allot three acres of the 20 acres of land handed over to the Kannada and Culture department by Bangalore University to set up the art center –– Kalagrama campus, to the NSD for establishing its drama school. The school which has been functioning out of the Gurunanak Bhavan in the City will be shifted to the Kalagrama campus located in Mallathahalli, facing the Ring Road side of the Jnanabharathi campus, in about three years.

NSD proposes to set up repertory centers, library and regional resource centre at the campus, apart from the drama school. Karjol also said the NSD would utilise the open air auditorium and other facilities of Kalagrama established by the Kannada and Culture department, and also coordinate with the department on the theatre-related activities.

Classes in 3 languages

Kapur said the NSD Bangalore would be the first campus to be set up outside New Delhi. “This is a great leap for us – a move forward in higher education and in theatre,” she said, adding that Rajya Sabha member B Jayashree should be given credit for speeding the formalities between the State and the Centre.

Classes will be taught in Kannada, English and Hindi, but the performances will be in Kannada.

“Students from outside the State may find it difficult to perform in Kannada, but this is how the format has been designed,” she added. NSD Bangalore will also conduct workshops in carpentry, sound and photography and other allied disciplines of theatre.

The project cost to set up the school is yet to be worked out. The NSD is in talks with other states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir to set up its centers, Kapur said.

Rs 1 lakh reward

A circular issued by the Kannada and Culture department states that the government will award Rs one lakh to 2011-12 batch probationers of the All India Civil Service who have studied in Karnataka from class one to 10 in either a government school or State-recognised school.

So far, the department has received around 70 applications for the years 2008-09; 2009-10 and 2010-11.