Yoga no more in Pratibha Karanji

Hubballi: The education department has been conducting Prathibha Karanji or Kalotsava programmes to encourage students in cultural activities for years. They were dropped during Covid.
However, a circular issued on June 28 claims they have dropped drama and other group activities from the competitions. An irony is that yoga competition has also been dropped from the list. As the number of participants has drastically reduced, the budget for Pratibha Karanji, which was Rs 4.77 crore in 2015-16, has been reduced to Rs 2.5 crore.
Cultural enthusiasts and Hindutva activists are alleging it as the suppression of talent in drama, folklore dances, science experiments and yoga in schools and that it is not acceptable.
Pramod Muthalik, mentor of the Sriram Sene, said the Pratibha Karanji is a platform to encourage talents of the state. “In the name of reducing budget, dropping any item, especially yoga, is wrong. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken yoga to the whole world, the BJP government itself is dropping from the competition in the state. It should be added immediately and the chain of yoga competition in Pratibha Karanji should not be stopped,” he said.
IK Bolwar, a children’s theatre activist in Puttur, noted that if not all, many schools used to practise a play for Pratibha Karanji. “Many teachers are disappointed as the department has dropped drama from Kalotsava. The government should note that plays are the best platform for children to exhibit their talent,” he said.
Teachers said the budget of Rs 4.77 crore was reserved for competitions for students from class 1 to 10 in 2015-16. “This time the department has included class 11 and 12 but slashed the budget,” they said.
VP Niranjanaradhya, an educationist, said: “Reducing the budget for such activity is a violation of the RTE Act.”
R Vishal, commissioner of public instruction, did not respond to calls and messages made by this reporter.