The city will host Kempe Gowda Day celebrations in April. The two-day celebrations, starting on April 5, will coincide with the famed Bangalore Karaga.
A preliminary meeting on the celebrations was chaired by Mayor Sharadamma on Saturday. It was decided in the meeting to limit the number of people to be conferred the Kempe Gowda award this year. It was also decided to increase the allocation for ward-level celebrations from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh.
Mismanagement
Last year, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) drew flak for mismanagement during the celebrations, where around 250 people were given the Kempe Gowda award.
Councillors, who attended the meeting, wanted the number to be brought down between 25 and 50. After a lot of deliberations, the meeting decided to limit the number to a maximum of 50, sources said.
The councillors demanded an increased allocation for the ward-level celebrations as they claimed that Rs. 1 lakh was insufficient. The total allocation for the celebrations to be held across the city will be increased from Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 6 crore.
The meeting also discussed the issue of development of Lakshmi Devi Samadhi in Koramangala. Lakshmi Devi was Kempe Gowda's daughter-in-law. The BBMP will soon take up the development of the samadhi, according to sources.
