Mangaluru: Karnataka Konkani Sahithya academy in collaboration with the Konkani Natak Sabha conducted an awareness programme, a first of its kind, at Don Bosco Hall in the city on Sunday, August 30.
Fr Cyprian D’Souza, the president of Konkani Natak Sabha inaugurated the programme with the traditional lighting of the lamp.
Karnataka Konkani Sahithya academy president Roy Castelino, Convenor of the programme Dolla Mangaluru, Konkani Sahithya academy registrar Devdas Pai, Fr Cyprian D’Souza, Geetha Kini from Konkani Basha Mandal, Niranjan Rao from Konkani Saraswath Samaj, Vidya Kamath from Konkani Sankrithik Sangh, Tony Ruzai a senior artist, Gopala Gowda from Konkani Institute were present on the dais.
Welcoming the gathering Roy Castelino said, “I am happy to see the congregation of a big crowd here. There are many academies in the state for the development of art, culture and language in the state. In fact Karnataka state has the highest number of academies. This is the only state where other languages than the state language are also encouraged. People and the artists should avail the facilities offered by the government for the enrichment of art and culture. Konkani academy has spent every rupee allocated to it in a right manner. In some cases, we have approved plans while waiting for funds. Because we do not want to postpone cultural activities,”
“Konkani Sahitya academy, in addition to the other works, is happy to help the artists in availing facilities available to them. Creating awareness among the artists is very important. We want all the Konkani artists to avail the facilities offered by the government. The process of taking applications from the artists will continue. A committee headed by Dolla Mangaluru will help the artists. People also can send the applications to the academy. We are trying our best to get a land for the Konkani academy to build its own office.” Castelino added.
Tony Ruzai released a booklet which contained information about the facilities the artists can get from the government. Gopala Gowda invited the artists in a traditional manner by beating the drum to participate in the awareness programme.
More than 300 artists participated in the programme. Raymond D’Cunha from Pingara Weekly compered the programme.
