HUBBALLI: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s announcement of constructing a pilgrims’ centre for Karnataka devotees in Ayodhya has triggered a controversy with Kannadigas visiting Delhi urging him to meet the long-pending demand of constructing a Yatri Nivas in the national capital.
V G Hegade, president, Delhi Karnataka Sangha (DKS), told TOI that the Delhi Yatri Nivas is pending since 10 years. “My predecessors have been urging the government to sanction funds for the Nivas. Currently we can accommodate 30 members and we have restricted it to artists and writers of Karnataka who visit here to participate in programmes. We have also been facilitating Kannadiga pilgrims visiting Kedarnath, Badrinath, Amarnath and Ayodhya. If Karnataka government constructs and maintains a Nivas, well and good. Otherwise we are ready to share the construction cost and even to maintain it if government requires our service,” he added.
According to a rough estimation, about 20,000 Kannadigas are residing in Delhi and on average of 150 Kannadiga pilgrims halt in the national capital every day before progressing onward on their journey.
Vasant Shetty Bellare, president, Delhi Kannada Education Society, noted that accommodation is available for all elected representatives and government officers from the state at the three Karnataka Bhavans in Delhi. “But the common man, mainly students are deprived of accommodation at reasonable rate in Delhi. School and college students, who come on educational tours, stay at other hotels ending up paying more,” he added.
Purushottama Bilimale, former professor of Kannada, JNU, Delhi recalled that Mysuru kings had built a Yatri Nivas in Varanasi, which is now in a pathetic condition.