Sunday, October 6, 2013

Why organise a Kannada sammelana?


Vishwa Kannada Sammelan begins today

RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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‘The Sammelan is to remind ourselves that life is not as bland as we think it to be'

Colourful celebration: A Pookare display for Vishwa Kannada Sammelan at the District Stadium in Belgaum on Thursday. — Photo: Special Arrangement
Colourful celebration: A Pookare display for Vishwa Kannada Sammelan at the District Stadium in Belgaum on Thursday. — Photo: Special Arrangement
What is the essence of the Vishwa Kannada Sammelan? As Belgaum city prepares to host the three-day cultural festival from Friday, there is a need to reflect on the need for such an event and its possible outcomes.
“I think it is to celebrate Kannadatana, or Kannadatva, or all that is associated with being a Kannadiga,'' says Chiranjeev Singh, retired additional chief secretary, who is considered the architect of the first Vishwa Kannada Sammelan in Mysore in 1985. “Just like there is something called Indianness or Panjabiyat, there is Kannadatana. It is a wonderful bundle of history, cultural heritage, art, literature, music and socio-economic progress. It is a mixture of emotion and understanding about our identity. It expands my understanding of the meaning of the Kannada-speaking world, which is not limited by geographical boundaries or time,” Mr. Singh said.
Event of fun
Acclaimed film director Girish Kasaravalli calls it an event of fun and joy. “Holding such an event should definitely contribute to shaping our identity as a linguistic and cultural group. The feeling that we are all one will be strengthened. I don't expect anything creative to come out of it. But then, I surely regard it as a celebration for all those whose lives are touched by the language or culture of this State. It should lead to harmony and love among all of us,” Mr. Kasaravalli said.
Full of joy
The Sammelan is to remind ourselves that life is not as bland as we think it to be, says national award winning sculptor Manayya Badiger. “Life is full of joy and colour. We need to pause and celebrate life. The Sammelan will help us in this,” he said.
Theatre and cine personality Mandya Ramesh feels the Sammelan will help foster a common identity of the people who reside in the State and those who stay outside, but are connected to Kannada in some way.
“In these days of changing culture and language, we need a wholesome cultural identity. The Sammelan will help in this. Organising the Sammelan in Belgaum is all the more important as it makes people in the border areas feel that they belong to the mainstream,” he said.
“I am happy that the government is organising a Vishwa Kannada Sammelan. But I would be happier if the government spent as much money and energy on issues faced by people in neglected border taluks affected by poverty, illiteracy and lack of development,” says pro-Kannada agitator Shivasharnappa Wali.
No expectations
However, there are some who don't expect much from the Sammelan. Rangayana director and linguist Lingadevaru Halemane said that he does not expect a positive impact from the event.
“I think it will provide a platform for exhibiting the achievements of the government. People will objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of the government. Intellectuals may discuss about the challenges before Kannada and suggest possible solutions. But I don't believe the government will do anything concrete to implement the recommendations,” he said.
‘No need for the Sammelan'
“I don't think there is any need for such a Sammelan. Its not just me, there are several tribals, poor farmers and labourers who don't see the need,” says writer Abdul Rasheed.
He was among the 70 arrested for protesting against the first Vishwa Kannada Sammelan in Mysore in 1985.
“If you ask me whether we need a Sammelan for the survival of Kannada, I will say no. This was my answer 25 years ago and it has not changed now,” he said.
  • The first Vishwa Kannada Sammelan was organised in Mysore in 1985
  • ‘In these days of changing culture and language, we need a wholesome cultural identity'
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    Friday, August 2, 2013

    Squash and Skating in Bidar

    Bidar to get squash court, skating rink

    SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
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    Inspection:Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer and Superintendent of PoliceK. Thiyagarajan speaking during the district stadium committee meeting in Bidar on Wednesday. —Photo: Gopichand T.
    Inspection:Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer and Superintendent of PoliceK. Thiyagarajan speaking during the district stadium committee meeting in Bidar on Wednesday. —Photo: Gopichand T.
    : Bidar would get a squash court and a skating rink at the district indoor stadium premises, Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer said on Wednesday.
    He was speaking at the district stadium committee meeting here.
    A youth empowerment and counselling centre would also be set up by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, he said.
    He scrutinised the accounts of expenditure for the last year and said there were several mismatches in the amounts spent by various wings of the Department of Sports and the details submitted to the committee.
    He remarked that the balance sheets submitted were not in order and instructed officials to submit audited accounts in the proper format.
    He instructed the officials to complete the pending works in the indoor stadium like storm-water drains around the stadium, installing a high-mast lamp and taking up landscaping.
    Zilla Panchayat CEO Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Superintendent of Police K. Thiayagarajan, and assistant director of youth services and sports H. Bharashetty were present.
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    Cashew cultivation in Bidar

    Farmer’s determination pays off

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    ‘We have cashew planted on over 150 acres in the district now’

    Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer of the Bidar Zilla Panchayat, at a cashew farm in Malchapur of Bidar district.
    Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer of the Bidar Zilla Panchayat, at a cashew farm in Malchapur of Bidar district.
    Vidya Sagar Patil still remembers the reactions of his neighbours when he decided to plant cashew on his family’s land at Malchapur four years ago.
    “They thought I was mad. Some were blunt enough to tell me to my face, while others just gave me a weird look. After a while I stopped reasoning it out with them and went about my work,” says the farmer.
    Today, Mr. Patil sells his produce in markets across the country. His story has inspired 15 other farmers to convert wasteland into lush cashew fields.
    Most of the 200-acre land near the village is used to mine lateritic bricks and no crops are grown there.
    Mr. Patil was inspired by a fact he read in a newspaper early on, that cashew grew well in red soil. The land around the village being mostly red laterite, he decided to experiment. With a group of Malchapur residents, he went on a tour to coastal Maharashtra where cashew is grown.
    “We also toured cashew-based industries in Goa. We were convinced we could benefit from this move, and brought back a lorry-load of cashew saplings,” the farmer said.
    They got the first crop after two years. “We sold half a lorry of cashew kernels to buyers in Maharashtra. Our yield doubled in the third year. We are hoping that our harvest will increase even further this October,” said Prem Sagar Patil, who planted cashew on 3.5 acres.
    Outside help
    According to him, farmers will be able to get back their investment of around Rs. 1.5 lakh per acre in four years. Resource persons from the College of Horticulture helped them manage the farm.
    “We started out by ourselves, but the college helped us out whenever we faced problems,” says Sharanappa Patil, another farmer.
    The government is also willing to lend a helping hand, according to Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer.
    “We are considering setting up a processing plant with contribution from farmers,” he told The Hindu .
    Requests
    The Chief Executive Officer added that he was also examining requests from farmers for watershed development near cashew farms, installation of solar–powered fences and subsidies for sprinklers and micro-irrigation equipment. “We have cashew on over 150 acres in the district now.”
    Considering the fact that three of the five taluks in Bidar have red lateritic soil, we will try to expand the crop’s coverage, Mr. Ghosh said.

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    Reserve seats in proportion to population

    ‘Provide reservation in proportion to population’

    SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
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    A delegation from the Bidar Chamber of Commerce and Industries has urged the State government to provide reservation for people of the Hyderabad Karnataka region in proportion to their population in the State.
    “As much as 21 per cent of the population of Karnataka lives in Hyderabad Karnataka districts. Therefore, the quantum of reservation should be 21 per cent, in proportion to their population, B.G. Shetkar, BCCI president, said in a memorandum submitted to the Cabinet subcommitte headed by H.K. Patil, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, in Gulbarga on Monday.
    Students from these six districts should be provided reservation in higher education institutions outside the region, he said. According to him, the present provision for reservation is inadequate as it speaks of reservation only within Hyderabad Karnataka districts.
    It should instead be based on the Telangana model where students from Telangana get reservation in higher education institutions outside Telangana districts.
    He said that a similar pattern should be followed in recruitment also. All posts of the State cadre should have provision of 21 per cent reservation for candidates from Hyderabad Karnataka. Similarly, 79 per cent reservation should be provided to Hyderabad Karnataka candidates in divisional, district and taluk-level cadres, he said

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    Why rice? Why not Jowar or Ragi?

    Why harp on rice alone, why not jowar or ragi?’

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    Experts, farmers’ organisations suggest distribution of other foodgrains through PDS

    While discussions on the Public Distribution System in the State has centred around providing rice at Re. 1 per kg to BPL families, experts and farmers’ groups said the government should procure wheat, jowar, ragi and minor millets from farmers and distribute them at ration shops.
    They also felt it would benefit farmers if the government buys grains directly from farmers at the district-level.
    “This is a golden opportunity for the government to help farmers and the common man,” said Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Veerbhushan Nandagave. “If the government were to replace the word rice with jowar or ragi, it would save the lives of lakhs of farmers. It would also address the issue of malnutrition,” he said. “We have been urging successive governments to include jowar and ragi in the public distribution system. We had recently sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to distribute minor millets through ration shops,” he said.
    Experts support decentralised procurement and diversification in foodgrains. “Local procurement is a good idea. So is diversification in grain distribution,” said Abdul Aziz, professor emeritus of the Institute of Social and Economic Change. Local procurement makes great economic sense as it reduces the cost of transport and storage. Guarantee of a minimum price by the government would encourage farmers to grow jowar or ragi on larger tracts of land, Prof. Aziz said.
    He also argued against diversification for socio-cultural reasons. “The government should not force people who are accustomed to eat a particular grain into switching to other grains,” added Srinivas Kakkilaya, a Mangalore-based physician.
    “Successive governments have neglected jowar,” a senior scientist and sorghum breeder with the university of agriculture science, Dharwad, said. “Area under jowar has fallen to 10 lakh hectares from 18 lakh hectares in the last ten years. We have been appealing to the government that this trend can be arrested if they can procure the grain for a minimum of Rs. 15 per kg. Then, more farmers will venture into jowar,” he said.
    However, Maruti Manpade, Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha president, said though it was a good idea, it would be difficult to implement. “It is easier to procure rice because paddy is grown on large tracts of land and the processing industry is concentrated in a few towns,” he said.
    Politics involved
    According to him, procurement is a highly politicised process. “The foodgrain merchants lobby will oppose any move that could reduce its profits. Rice millers and traders are already opposing levy collection. If the government were to try to procure jowar or ragi, the traders are bound to create obstacles. They could also create deliberate shortages and push up prices of these grains, Mr. Manpade said.
    Harsha Gupta, Commissioner, Food and Civil Supplies, said the government is examining proposals for local procurement and distribution of grains other than rice.
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    Using Ragi, Sajje, Navane, Saave in Anganwadis

    Pilot project to be taken up to promote use of millets

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    Farmers to be trained in their storage, and sale

    The district administration and farmers’ associations will take up a pilot project here to promote the use of minor millets.
    Farmers will be trained in their cultivation, storage, and sale, and farmwomen and self-help groups in the use of millets in their daily diet. The millets will also be served in anganwadi centres.
    Besides, extension officers of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) will promote cultivation of micro grain by training farmers and by setting up demonstration farms.
    Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer said it was the members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha who came up with the idea.
    Millets would be introduced on an experimental basis in anganwadi centres, where some villages would act as control groups and some as conditioned groups.
    “We will study its effect on malnourished children here and extend the programme if it is beneficial, he said.
    “This would address malnutrition and benefit farmers by reducing the cost of cultivation and providing an assured market for these grain. Importantly, it would pave the way for conserving traditional crop varieties,” Dr. Jaffer said.
    Grant
    The KVK will get Rs. 10-lakh grant for promoting cultivation of crops such as sajje, navane, save and ragi, among others.
    Resource persons from the Zaheerabad-based Deccan Development Society (DDS) will help the district administration in the project. The DDS has been promoting millets for nearly three decades.
    They have succeeded in forming women’s groups that save native seeds, store grain and prepare processed food prepared from these grains. It also runs the Café Ethnic, a restaurant in Zaheerabad, that uses only millets.
    Founder of DDS, P.V. Sateesh, held consultations with officials and farmers in the district. The society has offered to train SHG members in preparing food items from millets that could be supplied to anganwadis. “Seed companies are slowly enslaving farmers. If we have to come out of their clutches, we have to look for such innovative interventions,” Veerabhushan Nandagave, KRRS leader, said.
    First, the names of farmers who had been growing millets would be listed out. Then, more farmers would be motivated to take to millets.
    “We will also organise field trips to millet farms and to the DDS office in Zaheerabad,” Mr. Nandagave added.
  • Extension officers of Krishi Vigyan Kendra to promote cultivation of micro grain by training farmers
  • Farmwomen and self-help groups will be made to use millets in their daily diet

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    Set up IGNOU regional centre in Bidar

    IGNOU regional centre sought for Bidar

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    The Deputy Commissioner has urged Indira Gandhi National Open University to establish a regional centre in Bidar.
    A regional centre has a full-fledged office and library with teachers and counsellors. Through such centres, students can not only choose courses, but also attend classes, and appear for examinations.
    “The centre would give a boost to education not just in the district but also in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. It would be in line with the 12th Plan objectives of creating increased access to higher education in backward areas,” Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer said in a letter to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor M. Aslam.
    “Bidar is a part of the HK region that was neglected during the regime of the Hyderabad Nizam. It still remains among the most backward regions of the country. As per the composite development index of Dr. D. M. Nanjundappa committee, Gulbarga ranked 20th on the list of 20 districts, Bidar was in the 19th position, Raichur 16th and Bellary 11th. Of the 39 most backward taluks in the State, 21 are from the Hyderabad Karnataka region. As per the 2005 State Human Development Report, Hyderabad Karnataka districts occupy positions from 23rd to 27th on the list of 27 districts. The number of districts has increased to 31 now. But the position of the Hyderabad Karnataka districts has not changed,” he said. The 12th Plan speaks of capacity building to increase general enrolment rate in higher education to 30 per cent in 2020-21 from less than 15 per cent now. It speaks of adding seats in existing institutions of higher learning, and to create new institutions to address critical regional and social gaps.
    The 12th Plan aims at moving higher education from the elitist threshold of 15 per cent to the mass target of 50 per cent.
    The enrolment target is set at 10 million students, including one million in the open and distance learning mode, by the end of the 12th Plan. A regional centre of IGNOU in Bidar will add to the efforts in this direction, Mr. Jaffer said. “We have assured IGNOU that we will take care of their logistic demands like land, water and power supply and administrative clearances. We are hopeful of a positive reply,” Mr. Jaffer said.
  • Deputy Commissioner writes to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor
  • ‘We will provide land, water and power supply, and administrative clearances’

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    Set up IGNOU regional centre in Bidar

    IGNOU regional centre sought for Bidar

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    The Deputy Commissioner has urged Indira Gandhi National Open University to establish a regional centre in Bidar.
    A regional centre has a full-fledged office and library with teachers and counsellors. Through such centres, students can not only choose courses, but also attend classes, and appear for examinations.
    “The centre would give a boost to education not just in the district but also in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. It would be in line with the 12th Plan objectives of creating increased access to higher education in backward areas,” Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer said in a letter to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor M. Aslam.
    “Bidar is a part of the HK region that was neglected during the regime of the Hyderabad Nizam. It still remains among the most backward regions of the country. As per the composite development index of Dr. D. M. Nanjundappa committee, Gulbarga ranked 20th on the list of 20 districts, Bidar was in the 19th position, Raichur 16th and Bellary 11th. Of the 39 most backward taluks in the State, 21 are from the Hyderabad Karnataka region. As per the 2005 State Human Development Report, Hyderabad Karnataka districts occupy positions from 23rd to 27th on the list of 27 districts. The number of districts has increased to 31 now. But the position of the Hyderabad Karnataka districts has not changed,” he said. The 12th Plan speaks of capacity building to increase general enrolment rate in higher education to 30 per cent in 2020-21 from less than 15 per cent now. It speaks of adding seats in existing institutions of higher learning, and to create new institutions to address critical regional and social gaps.
    The 12th Plan aims at moving higher education from the elitist threshold of 15 per cent to the mass target of 50 per cent.
    The enrolment target is set at 10 million students, including one million in the open and distance learning mode, by the end of the 12th Plan. A regional centre of IGNOU in Bidar will add to the efforts in this direction, Mr. Jaffer said. “We have assured IGNOU that we will take care of their logistic demands like land, water and power supply and administrative clearances. We are hopeful of a positive reply,” Mr. Jaffer said.
  • Deputy Commissioner writes to IGNOU Vice-Chancellor
  • ‘We will provide land, water and power supply, and administrative clearances’

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    Integrated farming

    Reaping the fruits of integrated farming

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    Nidoda proves that you don’t need much land to be successful

    Vaijnath Nidoda (right) on his six-acre farm in Kamthana, Bidar taluk, with Praveen Kumar Naikodi of the College of Horticulture.— Photo: Gopichand T.
    Vaijnath Nidoda (right) on his six-acre farm in Kamthana, Bidar taluk, with Praveen Kumar Naikodi of the College of Horticulture.— Photo: Gopichand T.
    “Anyone who complains that farming is an unprofitable enterprise should meet me,” says Vaijanath Nidoda, a resident of Kamathana village in Bidar taluk.
    He is qualified to make such statements; he has practiced integrated farming for six years now. His farm is an open classroom, where other farmers come to learn about profitable farming and get some hands-on training.
    Mr. Nidoda grows food crops and cash crops, fruit-bearing trees and biodiesel plants on his six-acre farm. He also has small poultry farm and keeps a few goats. Two colonies of earthworms in the field work round the year to produce so much vermicompost that he has several cartloads leftover after using it in his farm.
    “Farmers should emulate him,” says Praveen Kumar Naikodi, assistant professor at the College of Horticulture, Bidar. “He has proved that you don’t need to own large tracts of farmland to be successful or rich. His cost of cultivation per unit of land has decreased while his earnings have steadily increased. The soil fertility has increased, as has the yield of field and horticulture crops. All of that is because of the scientific methods he uses,” he said.
    The basic principle of Mr. Nidoda’s success is studying market trends. “I observe the agricultural and horticultural markets. I make sure my products enter the market when there is a scarcity for them. For example, farmers grow watermelons, with plans to get yields during the month of Ramzan. When everyone does it, how can you get better prices? That is why, I make sure that my fruits are sold when the stock in the markets is less and the prices are fair,” he said. Similarly, he takes poultry farming in summer, so that the broilers are ready for sale after the Hindu month of Shravana, when the demand is higher. His land preparation methods are fit to enter textbooks, says Mr. Naikodi. “Several times, we are worried that farmers don’t follow our advice on digging pits, seed and sapling treatment, and providing manure or water. But Mr. Nidoda’s work exceeds our expectations, every time.” The way he cultivates ginger is an example. He has divided a four-acre plot into four parts and cultivates each part once every four years. He prepares each one-acre plot for three years before it is sown. Sun hemp is grown on the plot and thrashed down to make green manure. Garden waste, compost and vermicompost are added later. This process goes on for three years.
    Just before sowing, bunds are built carefully to make sure rainwater is well-drained. Such careful planning ensures soil fertility, resulting in yields that are twice the district average, at 110 quintals an acre. This year, due to high prices of ginger, he made a killing at the markets.
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    Jowar, Ragi and Wheat

    ‘Can I have jowar and wheat please?’

    RISHIKESH BAHADUR DESAI
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    Once wheat eaters, this family changed its food habit as rice is cheaper

    Women from BPL families in Kasab Galli of Bidar on Tuesday.– Photo: By Arrangement
    Women from BPL families in Kasab Galli of Bidar on Tuesday.– Photo: By Arrangement
    Habib Jamal of Kasab Galli in Bidar crawls to the door to greet visitors. She can hardly walk as illness has robbed her of all the strength in her legs.
    Widowed at the age of 20, she worked as a domestic help for over 25 years to raise her three children. She is happy to hear that the government is launching the scheme to provide Re. 1 per kg. “It would save me Rs. 570 a month. We could buy oil or spices with that money,” she said.
    Forgotten taste
    However, she would like some jowar and wheat as well, which is her staple diet. “When we were young, we would eat rice only on 10 or 12 days in a year. That was when my mother cooked biryani for guests, during festivals or when someone was sick at home. But now, rice is all that we eat. We have almost forgotten jowar and wheat,” she said, indicating how the food distribution system had altered her food habit over the years.
    They would have to shell out between Rs. 700 to Rs. 800 for foodgrains if they were to continue the staple of wheat or jowar, which cost Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 per kg.
    Hafizabi Rehman, who works as a labourer, adds that rice saves them the additional expense of grinding too. “Rice can be used directly. That is another reason why we have got used to cooking rice,” she said. “ Garibi badi sakht cheez hai, ’’ (poverty is a hard thing), says Goreebi Dastagir. When you are poor, you accept what comes your way.”
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