BAD CHAPTER APATHY CLOBBERS KONKANI GROWTH

PIO ESTEVES

Only two institutions exist and are working for the cause of Konkani in the state feel that the ruling government has not really looked after the interests of Konkani lovers. The Goa Konkani Academy (GKA) celebrated its 22nd anniversary at Sankhali recently and the general consensus was that Konkani wasn’t given the desired patronage.

The president of GKA, Madhav Borkar said that despite various projects in the pipeline, there has been no proper funding from the state government. “The academy chalks out various projects for the development and growth of Konkani, but all projects remain only in print due to lack of funding from the government,” he grieved.

Borkar said that funding is the biggest hurdle in the growth of the Konkani language. Sahitya sammelans are organized annually at various places for the promotion of Konkani, “but without the timely sanctioning of funds, how will such events go ahead smoothly and turn successful among the masses?” he inquired.

The GKA president also revealed that the institution would organize ‘nattak mahotsav’ annually wherein three nattaks and one tiatr would be staged at different selected venues. “But due to lack of funds, last year and this year too we could organize such events in the villages,” he regretted.

Borkar also stated that the academy publishes books annually of different authors, but bills of books printed are still pending. “GKA being an autonomous body is useless as the authorities in the academy have to seek approval from the government for every minor decision taken,” he concluded.

The president of Dalgado Konkani Academy (DKA), Premanand Lotlikar is satisfied to a certain extent with the annual grants received from the state government for the effective functioning of the academy. “The government was kind enough to also provide a full-fledged and fully furnished office in the heart of the city,” he added.

“But leaving aside the grants and the premises, the demand to include Roman Konkani in the Official Language Act still remains unfulfilled,” Lotlikar said. “A representation was made by DKA for inclusion of Roman Konkani in the Act, but the government did not heed to our humble request,” he grieved.

“During assembly sessions, proceedings have been carried out in Konkani and it a step in the right direction,” Lotlikar informed. “But simultaneously, in order to secure government jobs, the government should have made Konkani language compulsory for all the aspiring candidates,” he said.

“Government jobs should be provided only to those who have taken Konkani as one of the languages at school level and studied up to class XII. If such a step is taken in all earnest, then we can expect growth and development of Konkani in our state,” Lotlikar mentioned. “Today many aspirants with Marathi background apply and they secure jobs easily. But they hardly have any knowledge in Konkani and such candidates should not be made eligible for government jobs,” he added.

In the form of advertisements and other schemes, Lotlikar also said that the government is assisting only the newspapers, periodicals and magazines published in Devanagiri script whereas the magazines published in Roman script fail to benefit such prevailing schemes. “Why should the weeklies and magazines published in Roman script be given the step-motherly treatment? If the government is genuinely in favour of the Konkani language, then let the printed matter in both scripts be treated equally and avail all the benefits,” he concluded.