It has been close to one-and-a-half months since Dharwad hosted the 84th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, but the State government is yet to pay for a majority of the expenditure.
Ahead of the sammelana, when the Dharwad district administration sought additional funds for the mega literary event, everyone in the government, including the Chief Minister and the district in-charge Minister, emphatically said there was no question of dearth of funds for the ‘celebration of Kannada language and culture’.
However, even now the State government has not released funds and those who provided material and various services, including logistical support, to ensure smooth conduct of the event, and artistes are forced to frequent government offices seeking payment of bills.
Initially, the district administration had estimated the cost to be around ₹8 crore, which was sanctioned. Subsequently, it had sought additional grants of ₹2 crore. The Dharwad district in-charge Minister had even said that adequate funds would be released but till date it has not materialised.
Dharwad district unit of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat has already made an appeal seeking early release of funds. As requisite funds are yet to be released, the parishat has been caught in an embarrassing situation as payments include remunerations to artistes also. President of the Dharwad district unit Lingaraj Angadi said that after the initial payment of ₹2 crore by the government, ₹1.1 crore had been released in advance to the reception committee. “In fact, ₹2.5 crore has been spent by the parishat and an additional ₹50 lakh was mobilised through internal resources,” he said.
While the parishat has submitted its account to the district administration for the amount released, payments worth ₹8 crore are still to be made. In all, 14 committees had been formed to oversee preparations and conduct the sammelana in a smooth manner and several payments pertaining to these committees, including food, pandal, procession and others, are pending.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that the promise made by the government employees’ association of giving their one day’s salary towards the sammelana expenses is yet to be fulfilled.