Udupi: Higher Education Minister V.S. Acharya on Saturday said that linguistic harmony was one of the unique features of the coastal districts.
He was speaking at the inaugural function of the Konkani women's literary and cultural festival organised by the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, here.
Dr. Acharya said Kannada, Tulu, Konkani and Beary languages co-existed in perfect harmony in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The State had 11 academies and four were related to the coastal districts — Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy and the Karnataka Yakshagana Bayalata Academy.
The specialty of Konkani was that it was spoken by some Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. Hence, it was befitting that the headquarters of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy was located in Mangalore. It was due to the efforts of the academy that Konkani had been introduced as an optional language in schools. This had also helped in Tulu being introduced as an optional language in schools in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The State government provided Rs. 200 crore this year to the Department of Kannada and Culture as against the annual grant of Rs. 20 crore provided by successive governments, Dr. Acharya said. President of the zilla panchayat Katapady Shankar Poojary, Chairman of the Udupi CMC's Standing Committee Sumitra R. Nayak, and priest of Udyavara St. Francis Xavier Church William Martis were present.
Lakshmivara Tirtha Swamiji of Shiroor Math inaugurated the festival. TheHindu
Distribution of 30 cars
