It appears that there are many a slips between the cup and the lip for Kannada in reaping benefits of the classical language status accorded way back in 2008.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development constituted the planning-cum-monitoring Board (PMB) of Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada (CESCK) at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysuru only in April this year, after much delay. And the post of the project director, CESCK, CIIL, was filled only recently with the appointment of H.M. Maheshwaraiah.
However, the PMB has now been rendered dysfunctional, with Prof. Maheshwaraiah being appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi.
“Now, all administrative norms should be observed to fill the post afresh,” said a senior official in the Kannada Development Authority.
CESCK was formed to research, document, propagate, and teach classical Kannada in 2011 and constitution of PMB was perceived as a big boost for the progress of work related to studies in classical Kannada. The PMB has to monitor and guide the implementation of functions of CESCK, identify research areas, help the Centre in identifying qualified research through a transparent process, monitor the progress of research and financial aspects, and submit its report to the CIIL director on quarterly basis.
Earlier, delay in appointing a project director had resulted in funds released by the HRD Ministry being returned. A senior language scholar in CIIL said with the post falling vacant again, the scenario might repeat. According to sources, CIIL has now initiated the process of filling the post by issuing advertisements.
