The impasse over the transfer of Maharani New Type Model (NTM) School to Sri Ramakrishna Ashram is continuing with the groups supporting and opposing it refusing to budge from their stands.
Both groups staged protests here on Tuesday. The standoff is over the proposal to build a national memorial for Swami Vivekananda on the school premises and the merger of the school with another government school here.
One group, led by eminent nonagenarian writer D. Jaware Gowda (DeJaGow), held a demonstration outside the proposed memorial , expressing support for the ashram’s memorial plans. Litterateur C.P. Krishnakumar, who is also president of the Swami Vivekananda Samskruti Yuva Kendra Samiti; D. Made Gowda, former MLC; writers Malali Vasanthkumar, Prabhu Shankara and several others, took part in the demonstration. They argued for the transfer of school land to the ashram to facilitate the implementation of the project, which had been proposed during the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the spiritual leader.
The other group, led by social activist P. Mallesh and representatives from the Kannada Kriya Samiti, staged a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Director of Public Instruction. They demanded a written assurance from the State government that the Kannada-medium government school, which according to them is the oldest such school in the region, should be retained.
When contacted, H.R. Basappa, Deputy Director of Public Instruction, told The Hindu over phone that there was no written communication from the department on the school issue.
“To call off their stir, the protesters have been insisting on a written communication from the government on retaining the school and continuing admissions for the coming academic year. So far, I have not received any communiqué. I spoke to senior department officials in Bangalore and a communication is expected soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Prof. Gowda said the Vivekananda memorial was a significant project for Mysore and it should not be opposed. “We all should be proud of having a memorial for the spiritual leader in Mysore. It is not right to oppose the project for small reasons,” he said. Stating that he was one of the guests during the inauguration of NTM School decades ago, he said: “The memorial has been proposed for a good cause and the idea is noble. It is not prudent to escalate the controversy on the issue.” Mr. D. Made Gowda and Malali Vasanthkumar spoke and sought early possession of the school land from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for onstruction of the memorial.
