Talking at a meet to discuss the three-year goals of the Academy held at the Academy’s office, Mr. Uchil said that 75 programmes had been scheduled in Hassan, Chikmagalur, and Udupi to reach out to Beary speakers there. Apart from these, he said that the academy would continue to focus on Dakshina Kannada, with around 90 programmes scheduled here.
“However, instead of conducting cultural programmes in big cities, we would take them to villages. Every third Sunday, the academy will conduct programmes in four villages of a Legislative Assembly constituency through a travelling unit,” he said.
Mr. Uchil further promised to cut down the delay in giving awards. He said prizes for lifetime award, best books, and poems among others would be given in the last month of the year itself, instead of a seven-month delay hitherto. The discussion involved stakeholders in the preservation and propagation of the language who presented the Academy members a list of suggestions.
Bashir Baikampady, president of Beary Sahitya and Samskruthi Sangha, suggested a bigger budgetary allocation to sports where Bearys participate in larger numbers. “Kabaddi, lagorri should be in focus as many young Bearys play them,” he said. Mr. Baikampady also suggested holding an annual Beary Sammelan, while also reviving Beary newspapers which have closed down.
P.A. Rahim, the former member of Minorities Commission, implored the Academy to trace the centuries-old history of the community and highlight traditions and customs that have been lost in the onslaught of modernism. “Clothes the community used to wear and Beary traditional food are either lost or in the danger of being forgotten. I urge the academy to catalogue and popularise these,” he said.
