Madikeri Dasara grants increased to Rs 60 lakh

The Rs 30 lakh grant released by the state government towards Madikeri Dasara was the reason of disappointment for the Dasara Committee this year. However, after pressuring the government, the committee has been successful in convincing the chief minister to release an additional grant of Rs 30 lakh.

On Wednesday, a team comprising District In-charge Minister M R Seetharam, MLA
M P Appacchu Ranjan, MLC Veena Acchaiah and Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy former president Biddatanda S Thammaiah met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and requested for more grants, to which the chief minister has agreed.

There was a demand to earmark a fund of Rs 1 crore towards Madikeri Dasara. The committee members expected the government to release at least Rs 60 lakh. But, the calculations went wrong when the grants were restricted to only Rs 30 lakh by the government. The assurance by the chief minister to release additional funds has been a relief for the committee members.

The Madikeri Dasara will be flagged-off with the Karagotsava on September 21. The last day of Dasara will be marked by the extravagant ‘Dasamantapa’ procession, the major attraction of Madikeri Dasara. This apart, there will be Dasara sports tournament, Youth Dasara, Children’s Dasara, cultural programmes, rural games, women’s Dasara and poets’ meet. Therefore, the committee members were expecting a grant of Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

In 2015, a grant of Rs 50 lakh was released by the state government in the wake of drought situation in the state. In 2016, though Rs 75 lakh was assured, only Rs 60 lakh was released.

The previous Madikeri Dasara was a bundle of chaos as several artists did not receive payments and some even received bounced cheques. District In-charge Minister M R Seetharam had taken the committee members to task in this connection.

Preparations yet to begin

Even as there is only a week left for Dasara, no preparations have begun at Gandhi Maidan, except for the makeover of the Gandhi Mantapa. The deputy commissioner has not convened any preparatory meet. The patchwork of roads too has not been taken care of. However, people said the office-bearers of Madikeri Dasara Committee have been raising funds from the public.

The dates of Children’s Dasara, ‘Makkala Santhe’ and rural games have been finalised. But, the schedule of the cultural programmes is not out yet.

DH News Service