All attempts will be made to introduce Tulu as an optional language subject in pre-university courses from next academic year, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy President Dayananda Kathalsar said.
Tulu was already being taught in high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Introduction of the language in PU has been pending. Even the syllabus is almost ready for PU courses, Kathalsar said speaking at the phone-in programme.
Monthly pension
He said that he was planning to write to the Kannada and Culture department and government to provide monthly pension to all the unrecognised artistes (above 60 years) working for Tulu culture and art, including Daivaradhane. The artistes from recognised art forms get all the facilities from the government, while the artistes from unrecognised Tulu art forms are struggling to eke out a living, he said. He said there was a need to set up ‘Daivaradhane Adhyayana Kendra’ in the district.
Caller Charan Ekkar said that school authorities slapped fine on students for speaking in Tulu language on the school campus. To which, Kathalsar said if the Academy receives any complaint in this regard, then the academy can take suitable action through the department concerned. The schools and colleges should restrict the medium of instruction for their academic purpose. However, they can not impose restrictions on the languages spoken by the students while conversing with each other.
To a query on the digitisation of old Tulu books and art forms by caller Hardik Kudla, the Academy president said, "The Academy has a library with good collection of books. The digitisation of Tulu books and art forms will be taken up by the Academy in the future. There are plans to seek support from philanthropists and donors for the purpose’’.
Lawrence from Mangaluru said the government had sanctioned Rs 6 crore to Beary Academy, Rs 5 crore to Konkani Academy and only Rs 3.6 crore to Tulu Academy. To which, Kathalsar said the government had sanctioned half-acre of land and Rs 4 crore for constructing Tulu Bhavana. He said Rs 3.6 crore was an additional amount sanctioned to the Academy to complete the work on Tulu Bhavana. In addition, the Academy had sought Rs 2 crore to set up a museum highlighting Tulu art, culture and age-old artefacts of the Tulu Nadu.
The Academy president said that the Academy was also planning to post a few videos on YouTube to help non-Tulu speaking people to learn Tulu language.
He appealed to the people of Tulu Nadu to write Tulu as their mother tongue during the Census to be held next year, to make Tulu language strong.