For those doing M.A. in Kannada literature, the Department of Kannada and Culture is a godsend. The reason: it sell books of noted Kannada litterateurs at a giveaway price.
“There are many books of famous writers such as Channaveera Kanavi, Chandrashekhar Kambar, Raghavendra Patil, Devanur Mahadev and Ta. Ra. Su. which are not easily available in the market. Even if they are available, they prove expensive at least for the poor students. Many such popular books could be purchased at the Departments' office in each district at an affordable price,” said an official in the Department in Chitradurga.
The prices of books start from as low as Rs. 30, while the same cost over Rs. 100 in private bookstores. “We are selling the books at 80 per cent discounted rate which barely covers the cost of publishing,” the official said and added that the affordable cost of books not only helps the students but also the book-lovers who could buy them without burning their pockets.
K.N. Anand, who is doing Kannada Literature via correspondence from Mysore University, feels that many books recommended by the University are available at an affordable price at the Department offices.
Dept. offer
The Department is also ready to get specific books published based on the demand of the students, the official said. To commemorate the world Kannada meet held at Belgaum in March this year, the Department has published 101 books authored by renowned writers such Chandrashekhar Kambar's ‘Chakori,' Devanur Mahadev's ‘Kusuma Bale,' Ta. Ra. Su.'s ‘Hamsageete' and Raghavendra Patil's ‘Teru.'
The books written by many other authors such as D.V. Gundappa, K.S. Narasimhaswamy, G.S. Shivarudrappa, L.S. Sheshagiri Rao and Gopalakrishna Adiga have also been published.
The Department has introduced a concept, “Samagra Sahitya Sampada,” in which series of books written by the famous authors have been published. “We also have books in the field of folk art and tradition, theatre, short stories, travelogues and poems which are mostly demanded by PG students for their studies,” the official said.
The Department had published 102 books on Karnataka's history, heritage and culture to commemorate the Suvarna Karnataka campaign launched about three years ago.
The Department has been selling books worth Rs. 1 lakh every month.
No promotional events
However, owing to staff shortage, mainly in the district offices, the Department is unable to hold promotional events to attract a larger number of book-lovers.
“Besides selling books, we also have to maintain the Ranga Mandirs and organise other cultural programmes across the district for almost the entire year. Managing all these responsibilities with the limited staff is a Herculean task. We can hold several promotion activities to popularise our books so that they could reach more book-lovers, especially the poor students, if the Government appoints more staff,” the official said.
