Mangaluru: The Konkani Writers and Artistes Association (KWAA) lauded the efforts of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy President Dr. Jagadish Pai in getting a Rs 5-crore grant from the State Government to set up a Konkani Bhavan. Soon after being appointed as the Academy President, Dr. Pai got into action and with the help of elected representatives, he contacted the Kannada and Culture Minister CT Ravi as well as the concerned officials. By succeeding in obtaining a grant for the Konkani Bhavan, Dr. Pai has fulfilled a long-pending demand of the Konkani-speaking people in the state’s coastal districts.
It can be recalled that KWAA had opposed the move by then-Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to award a Rs 5-crore grant to a private organisation so that they could renovate a museum. The KWAA had requested the government to stop allotting funds to a private entity that was under loss. Instead, it had requested the government to set up a Konkani Bhavan, as well as a museum on the same site, similar to the model of the Tulu Bhavan.
Mangaluru has many institutions that have been working to promote the Konkani language. Moreover, the Academy does not have a site of its own. KWAA President Ronald Sequeira and Secretary Florine Roche have expressed that it would be better to build the proposed Konkani Bhavan in Karwar as it was the place where the fragmented Konkani community had been united in 1939. Additionally, the KWAA administration also informed that they would welcome the Bhavan being constructed in any other part of the Uttara Kannada district as well.