I'll reconsider request: Minister

Minister for Kannada and Culture H S Mahadeva Prasad, on Sunday, said, he will consider the request made by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy to drop the nomenclature ‘Sahitya’ and re-name it as ‘Karnataka Konkani Academy’. Participating in the ‘Konkani Sangeethothsav-2007’ on Sunday, he said, the demand by the members of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy to rename as Karnataka Konkani Academy on the lines of the Urdu Academy will be looked into. “In order to encourage all activities undertaken by the Academy like art, music, sports, the Academy wants the nomenclature ‘Sahitya’ to be dropped which will be considered shortly,” he said. “The Academy has been making excellent use of the funds allocated by the Government and to encourage the language, Konkani has been introduced as an optional third language in the school curriculum,” he stated. He reiterated that a Barry Academy of Literature in Mangalore with annual grant of Rs 15 lakh will be setup to encourage literary works of the language. “The government is committed to lend support to all languages for which adequate funds will be allocated,”, he said.