Koppal district administration, in a bid to cultivate reading and critical thinking among children in particular, launched an initiative called ‘Manvantara’. Enthused by the response, it has now launched a second edition of the programme called ‘Manvantara 2’.
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The programme is a competition for writing reviews of books selected by the administration. Meant for people from the district, the competition is divided into two categories: children and general.
Four books, two each in Kannada and English, have been selected for the childrens’ category: Chidambara Rahasya (K.P. Purnachandra Tejaswi) and Marali Mannige (Shivaram Karanth) in Kannada and Becoming – Adopted for Younger Readers (Michelle Obama) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling) in English have been chosen. For the general category, the chosen books are: Malegalalli Madumagalu (Kuvempu) and Grahabhanga (S.L. Bhyrappa) in Kannada, and The Glass Palace (Amitav Ghosh) and Ikigai: Japanese Art of staying Young... While Growing Old (Keira Miki) in English.
A taluk-level committee will select the two best write-ups on each book and send them to a district-level evaluation panel. The district committee will shortlist the best two for each book. It will then call the shortlisted candidates for interviews and select the winners. The first prize will carry ₹20,000 in cash followed by a second prize with ₹10,000, and a third prize with ₹5,000. Those who are not selected for the interview will get consolation prize of ₹2,000. The best review of the English work would carry a special prize of ₹15,000 in cash.
“The first edition in 2000 received a good response with over 5,000 reviews. I hope people show similar or more interest in this second edition,” Deputy Commissioner Suralkar Vikas Kishor told The Hindu.