R.K. Narayan's family has expressed happiness over the Karnataka government's decision to declare the late writer's house in Mysore a heritage monument, said Minister for Urban Development S. Suresh Kumar in a statement on Wednesday.
Narayan's granddaughter Bhuvaneswari Sreenivasamurthy and her husband K. Sreenivasamurthy called on the Minister in the Vidhana Soudha here.
“As they live in Chennai, they expressed their inability to maintain the house in Mysore,” the statement said.
Mr. Kumar said he assured the family that the government would offer them an alternative housing site in Mysore or compensate them monetarily, and a decision to this effect would be announced soon. The family and experts would be consulted when the building, to be named Malgudi, would be restored.
“The Minister was very cordial and promised that he would take all efforts to protect the legacy of my grandfather,” Ms. Sreenivasamurthy told The Hindu .
Mysore MLC G. Madhusudan, Adviser to the Chief Minister on Urban Development A. Ravindra, and Urban Development Secretary Shambhu Dayal Meena were present at the meeting.
