Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal
Bantwal, Mar 28: The 28th Dakshina Kannada District Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Bantwal passed five significant resolutions, including a strong appeal to the Kerala government to amend its language bill, warning that it poses a threat to the educational rights and linguistic freedom of Kannada-speaking minorities in Kasargod.
The resolutions were adopted during the open session chaired by Dakshina Kannada District Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Dr M P Sreenath. District Kasap honorary secretary Rajeshwari M presented the resolutions passed at the 28th district conference.
The Sammelana expressed concern that private and deemed universities, despite benefiting from state support, have shown neglect towards Kannada. It noted that the duration of Kannada language learning at the undergraduate level has been reduced and urged that every student pursuing education in Karnataka be mandated to study Kannada for at least four semesters.
Another resolution called on the government to actively promote the establishment and growth of Kannada-medium schools. It demanded relaxation of existing norms to facilitate their establishment and urged that major educational institutions in the state be made to set up at least one Kannada-medium school covering classes one to ten.
The conference also flagged the slowdown in bulk procurement of books by the state’s public library department. It urged the government to ensure the purchase of at least 300 Kannada books without disruption and to immediately complete pending procurement processes.
Further, the Sammelana emphasised the need to foster greater interest in Kannada literature among students at the primary level and called for consultations with experts to introduce more innovative teaching methods.
Sammelana president Chidambara Baikampady and various taluk Kasap presidents, including Vishwanath Bantwal, Venugopal Shetty, Gowda, Manjunath S Revankar, K Sesappa Rai (Kadaba), and Mithun Udupa (Mulki), were present on the occasion.