Kannada Classical Studies Centre to come up at Chamundi Foothill

Bengaluru/Mysuru: Ending the confusion over allotment of land for the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada (CESCK) by CIIL (Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru), the State Government on Friday decided to allot 10 acres of land belonging to University of Mysore (UoM) at the foot of Chamundi Hill.

This decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Kannada and Culture Minister C.T. Ravi in Bengaluru yesterday.

Following the meeting, Ravi said the Government has directed the UoM Registrar Prof. K. Shivappa to hand over 10 acres of land belonging to UoM at the foot of Chamundi Hill to CIIL for establishing the Classical Kannada Studies Centre at the earliest.

Pointing out that the University has 23 acres of land at the foot of Chamundi Hill, he said that the officials have been directed to start construction works within a month. Regretting that the Centre is yet to come up even after years of the Union Government’s sanction, he said that earlier it was decided to allot 3 acres of land belonging to the UoM in the Old Tahsildar Office premises opposite Premier Studio on Hunsur Road. But later the Higher Education Department wrote to the University of Mysore cancelling the allotment. Subsequently, the Higher Education Department was appealed to sanction land belonging to the UoM on the outskirts of the city, following which the Higher Education Minister agreed to allot 10 acres of land at the foot of Chamundi Hill. 

Now that the land has been sanctioned, the University should hand over the land to CIIL for the establishment of the Centre and the preparations on the construction should be done in a month, he said and added that a delegation would be taken to the Union HRD Minister and other Central Ministers representing the State — D.V. Sadanandagowda and Pralhad Joshi, to seek sanction of funds and other necessary infrastructure.

Kannada Development Authority Chairman T.S. Nagabharana, Scholars Prof. T.V. Venkatachalashastry and Prof. Talwar, CESCK Planning Director Dr. Durgadas, Prof. N.S. Taranath, CIIL Director Dr. D.G. Rao and other officials were present.

Meanwhile, reacting to the  Government’s direction for allotment of 10 acres of land, UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar told Star of Mysore this morning that the Higher Education Minister has directed the University on Friday to allot 10 out of the 23 acres of land that it has at the foot of Chamundi Hill.

Pointing out that the University had planned to utilise this land for future plans, he said that the Government’s direction on allotment of 10 acres for CESCK will be placed at the University Syndicate meeting shortly, where a decision on parting with the asked land will be taken.