Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge has expressed regret over the decline in reading habit among people in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, which had made great contributions to the field of literature.
Inaugurating Sri Siddalingeshwara Book Mall to commemorate the 39th anniversary of Siddalingeshwar Book Depot and Publishing House here on Sunday, he said that the author of the first classical Kannada text ‘Kavirajamarga’, King Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga, and 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara, who wrote the Vachana Sahitya, were from this region.
Mr. Kharge said that reading habits would widen the knowledge sphere of an individual. “It is unfortunate that the habit of buying books is on the decline among the younger generation as well as the older generation. The electronic media has a strong sway over the youth, but the multimedia content will nowhere match to that of reading books,” he said.
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States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal had the highest literacy rate, where people find time to read books and newspapers regularly. Mr. Kharge said education would help inclusive development of the region.
Purushottam Bilimale, Professor of Kannada, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, said that a Kannada Study Chair would be established at JNU and the university would make available all major books related to Kannada literature for research scholars. Mr. Bilimale expressed displeasure over the failure of the government to maintain the historical places including Malkhed in Sedam taluk and Nagavi Yellamma temple in Chitapur taluk in Kalaburagi district. Rajyotsava award winners Veerendra simpi and H.S. Patil and Swamirao Kulkarni who won the Kanakshri Award were felicitated. More than 100 books published by Siddalingeshwar Publishing house were released.