Mangaluru: “I have not taken away the food of the poor children but it is Prabhakar Bhat who did it, by refusing the mid day meal of the state government by giving a written application. If Bhat gives an application from his school seeking the mid day meal, I will provide the same through the state government to his schools”, District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai said.
He was addressing the media regarding the row over the state government’s decision to cancel the financial assistance provided to two government-aided schools from the Kollur Temple, which are being run by a trust led by RSS strongman Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat.
“The grants were being given in the form of of cash given to Prabhakar Bhat’s institutions from the Kollur Temple. There is no provision for that. Prabhkar Bhat is economically stable to run the institution. Moreover, he has also raised funds from Bollywood actors, former minister G Janardhan Reddy and from the capitalists for his school.”
Rai also expressed that a few meters away from Sri Rama Vidya Kendra, there was a government school where free mid day meals, uniforms, shoes to children were being provided. “So why do the parents want to send the children to Sri Rama Vidya Kendra? The intention of his institutions is to turn the children communal. Calling it a communal factory may not be wrong. Siddaramaiah knows the pain of poor people but Prabhakar Bhat doesn’t. Already the government has cancelled the financial assistance provided to 21 schools from Kukke Subramanya but it never became an issue. Now Prabhakar Bhat is trying raise funds by pushing the students to streets.The protest from students was a political drama”, said Rai.
Congress District President Harish Kumar, MLA J R Lobo, MLA Moideen Bhava and others were present.
