Permanent cell to organise quality sammelans planned

By Muralidhara Khajane

Courtesy: The Hindu

BELGAUM: With the experience of conducting the second Vishwa Kannada Sammelan in Belgaum behind him, Special Officer of the event I.M. Vittal Murthy has decided to recommend to the Government to set up a “permanent functioning cell” to organise quality sammelans in future.

Mr. Vittal Murthy told The Hindu on Sunday that the permanent functioning cell would recommend an effective pattern for conducting the “festival of Kannadigas” of this kind in future.

Attributing the shortcomings in organising the event to shortage of time, he said, “Had we got at least three weeks to organise the event, the quality would have been enhanced significantly.”

Claiming that the sammelan was a great success, he said for the first time an event was held without any trouble in Belgaum. Marathi-speaking people actively supported and participated in the sammelan, he said.

Detailing the challenges he faced in organising the convention at short notice, Mr. Vittal Murthy said he was “a bit apprehensive” when he was asked by the Government to take charge of conducting the sammelan.

“I had only two options — either to accept the challenge or reject the offer. I did not want to become an obstacle in conducting the convention, so I accepted the offer of becoming an ‘empowered’ Special Officer,” he said.

“When the idea of organising the sammelan was first proposed in 2006, we had thought of conducting literary sessions for five days and cultural events for seven days. But we were forced to compress the programme schedule now.”

According to Mr. Vittal Murthy, the first challenge he faced was to convince Infosys chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy to accept the invitation to inaugurate the sammelan. Mr. Narayana Murthy had refused to inaugurate the event after there was opposition from some quarters. “We had a tough time convincing him.”

Scope for improvement

Mr. Vittal Murthy admitted that accommodation facilities for delegates could have been improved. “Definitely, there is a need to change the pattern of conducting the sammelan. We have learnt a lot from this experience,” he said.