Champa releases ambitious election manifesto

BANGALORE: Poet Prof Chandrashekhar Patil (Champa), one of the candidates eyeing the Kannada Sahitya Parishat president’s post, released his election manifesto on Saturday.He has highlighted eleven points: firstly there is a need to redefine the main interest of Kannada life and secondly, to build a strong and democratic forum for the protection of the interest of Kannadigas.There used to be an book fair every month but that has stopped now and it needs to be restarted. This needs to be expanded to all other districts too. The special plan for Sahitya Sammelana that is held every month needs to be relooked.Women should participate in this and encouragement needs to be given to them too, he stressed. He has also spoken about the centenary celebrations of the Parishat and its preparations.“There should be national and internationallevel programmes on the occasion,” he said. The interests of those Kannadigas who live on interstate borders should be considered. Currently, there are thousands of members in the Parishat and the plan should be to extend that to three lakh members, he said pointing out that there is a bigger need to organise joint ventures with other forms of art, including cinema and theatre, claiming that financial support will come from creative planning. Concluding his manifesto, Champa said that all forms of contemporary literature should be provided opportunities and also consistent encouragement should be given to young writers.He said the Parishat should involve itself in active negotiations with the government and coordinate with all Kannada academic institutions.