• District Minister donates Rs. 1.19 crore; Food & Civil Supplies Minister hands over Rs. 8 lakh
• Minister Somashekar writes to Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty for funds

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar, who had donated Rs. 73.60 lakh collected from the people of his Yeshwanthpur Constituency (Bengaluru) for maintenance of Mysuru Zoo on Apr. 29, has again donated Rs. 45.30 lakh to the Zoo this morning. The Minister so far has donated Rs. 1,18,90,000.

Somashekar handed over the donation in the form of cheque and Demand Draft (DD) to Mysuru Zoo Executive Director Ajit M. Kulkarni in the presence of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology Department Minister K. Gopalaiah, Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) Member-Secretary B.P. Ravi and others in the Zoo premises.

In another development, Minister Somashekar has written to Chairperson of Infosys Foundation Sudha Murty appealing her to provide financial aid to the Zoo on behalf of the Foundation.

The letter has been written on May 1 wherein the Minister said that the 125-year-old Zoo was a self-reliant institution that has not depended on Government grants since 2002. Instead, it maintains itself out of the money raised from gate ticket collection.

Mentioning that the Zoo takes care of its animals well and has maintained international standards, the Minister appealed for financial grants from the Infosys Foundation to sustain the animals and birds, maintain the staff and also to tide over the COVID crisis.

After donating Rs. 45.30 lakh to the Zoo, Somashekar said that as the Zoo is not getting any revenue due to lockdown and as such, maintenance of the Zoo had become a problem. He said that he has also requested other Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and the public for financial help.

He stated that he had requested Food and Civil Supplies Minister Gopalaiah for help to which the Food Minister responded positively and donated Rs. 8 lakh for the maintenance of the Zoo besides distributing 25 kg rice each to all 300 Zoo staff.

Minister Gopalaiah said that after Somashekar explained to him about Mysuru Zoo, he collected the donations from the people of his Constituency and handed over the same to the Zoo authorities.

City’s Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) also donated rusk and biscuits to the Zoo staff on the occasion.