State to look into renaming of Konkani academy

Sharing a thought: Minister for Kannada and Culture H.S. Mahadeva Prasad (left) and Konkani Sahitya Academy chairman Eric Ozario at the Konkani musical programme in Bangalore on Sunday.

Bangalore: The Government will consider dropping the word “sahitya” from Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy’s name so that the activities of the body do not get restricted to literature alone, Minister for Kannada and Culture H.S. Mahadeva Prasad has said. He was responding to a proposal put forward by the academy chairman Eric Ozario after inaugurating a Konkani musical programme organised by the academy and the Federation of Karnataka Konkani Catholic Associations here on Sunday. Mr. Ozario argued that renaming the academy, on the lines of Karnataka Urdu Academy, would enable it to work for a broad-based development of the language.

Mr. Ozario thanked the Government for raising the annual allocation to the academy to Rs. 20 lakh and introducing Konkani as a third language in schools in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

Konkani academy was the only other academy, besides the Kodava Academy, that had used all its funds in the last financial year, he pointed out. The academy released a collection of profiles of 100 eminent Konkani personalities drawn from diverse fields.