Rs 5 crore for Bangalore Sammelan Memorial

GANGAVATHI: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the construction of a memorial building for the 77th Akhil Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan that was held in Bangalore in February 2011. Gowda, in his inaugural address at the 78th sammelan here on Friday, said the government will open an Agricultural College in Gangavathi by next year since the main occupation of people in the region is agriculture. Recalling Kannada Sahitya Parishat’s (KSP) efforts in protecting the interests of Kannada, he said that in support of KSP’s initiatives, the government has sanctioned Rs 1 crore for dictionary work and Rs 45 lakh each to district-level sahitya sammelans.He said the government has provided Rs 1 crore to Bhasha Bharati to translate Kannada works into other languages.Gowda appealed to KSP to prepare a report of its resolutions taken at the sammelan and promised to implement them. Meanwhile, responding to a demand of Gangavathi farmers, he announced Rs 100 as support price for paddy purchase, adding, “The government will purchase paddy through its paddy purchase centres.”