Mangalore: Ramanath Rai emphasizes importance of Kannada at Rajyotsava celebration
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)
Mangalore, Nov 1: As many as 20 achievers from various fields were conferred the district Kannada Rajyotsava Awards for the year 2013 during the Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations held at Nehru Maidan here on Friday November 1.
District in-charge minister Ramanath Rai hoisted the flag and conferred the awards along with other dignitaries. MLA J R Lobo, MLA Mohiudeen Bava, ZP president Koragappa Nayak, IGP Pratap Reddy, police commissioner Manish Karbikar, DC N Prakash, Pradeep Kumar Kalkura were present.
Prior to the celebration, a procession jointly organized by DK district Kannada Sahitya Parishad and the district administration was taken out from Dr B R Ambedkar circle to Nehru Maidan. The procession reverberated with a festive mood as a number of vibrant tableaux depicted richness of Kannada language and culture of the land.
District incharge minister Ramanath Rai received the guard of honour from the civil police, NCC Air, Naval and Army wings, fire service, KSRP, traffic police, police band and others who participated in the march past.
Addressing the gathering, minister Rai recalled all the people who contributed to the growth of the state. "Kannada is not only a language but it is power. Our language and culture has a history of more than 2000 years. It is the duty of all Kannadigas to preserve the Kannada language, its tradition, culture and art," he said.
Stressing that the state government has given importance to Kannada language in all fields, he said all people should join hands in making its mission a success.
"Building a prosperous Karnataka is the main aim of the government and hence many pro-people projects are being undertaken. Along with welfare programme, importance has also been given to the field of education," he added.
"Earlier, our government had implemented mid-day meal scheme for school students and now other states are following it. Now we have launched ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ project, that is providing milk to 1.2 crore school students free of cost."
He further said, "For use of Kannada language in information technology, the government has decided to make use of ‘Unicode Kannada’ software. Our government is also committed to protect the culture, heritage and language of the coastal districts. Hence a sum of Rs 50 lac has been allotted for building an auditorium in honour of Rashtrakavi M Govind Pai Pratishan at Manjeshwar; Rs 1 crore sanctioned for building Jain poet Ratnakaravarni Research Center in Mangalore University, and Rs 5 crore to develop the Padumalai place in Puttur, which was the birth place of Koti Chennayya.
"Apart from these, as soon as our government came to power, we introduced ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, that is provision of rice at Re 1 to poor families. Presently 21,079 Antyodyaya and 1,79,293 BPL families from the district are benefitted from the scheme," he added.
Slum-free State
With an aim of making the state free of slums, the government has decided to build three lac houses every year. For the financial year 2013-14, the aid for houses has been increased from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1,20,000, said the minister.
A new project “Manaswini’ has been launched through which unmarried and divorced women who have crossed age of 40 and who are below poverty line will get monthly pension of Rs 500.
Keeping in mind the welfare of Mogaveera community in Dakshina Kannada, the district has reserved more funds for them. To undertake civil works of Karnataka fisheries port and dock, a division for implementation of the project will be established. Under ‘Matsyashraya’, the subsidy has been increased from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.20 lac to build houses.
The much-needed fisheries port for coastal fishermen will be built at Kulai, for which a sum of Rs 229 crore has been allotted by the state fisheries department in its 2013-14 programme, he said, adding that importance will also be given to preserve forests.
The recipients of the district Kannada Rajyotsava Awards were:
Literature: Bola Chitaranjan Das Shetty, B L Nagaraj, Shanthi Prakashana
Education: Umesh Rao Yekkaru
Music: Harry D’ Souza (Silver Band)
Art: Suresh Attavar
Yakshagana: Leelavathi Bypadithaya
Folk: Dayanand Kathal Sar, Annu Paravan (Kanchana, Puttur)
Service to Kannada: Dr Annayya Kullal
Agriculture: Dr D C Chowta
Theatre: Dinesh Attavar
Journalism: P B Harish Rai (urban), Harish Bantwal (rural)
Social Service: Elias Sanctis
Cinema: Aravind Bolar
For supporting art: Vijay Vittalnath Shetty
Environment: Madhava Ullal
Classical music: Prakash Devadiga
Organization: Maruthi Yuvaka Mandal, Ullal
A few students who excelled in various fields were also honored on the occasion. They were Nihal, Amith V Kamath, Haritha M B, Anusha K, Swathi K, Manish Shenoy, Nireeksha U K, Swathi Bhat and others.
Students from various schools entertained the spectators with cultural programme at the venue.
Protest
Demanding CBI probe into Sowjanya rape and murder case and to put pressure on minister Ramanath Rai in this regard, the members of DYFI, Forum Against Atrocities on Women, SFI, DSS, and CITU marched in protest to Nehru Maidan waving black flags and tried to enter the venue. The police stopped the protestors and took them away.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Rai said that as several associations have been demanding CBI probe into the case, he would speak to the chief minister about it.
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