Stage yet to be set for NSD in B'lore

Stage yet to be set for NSD in B'lore
By Satish Shile, DH News Service, Bangalore:

The Centre has agreed to set up National School of Drama in Bangalore, while the state government has failed to provide enough space for the school. The then chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy assured theatre personality Prasanna during his hunger protest that the state government would cooperate to set up the NSD.

He also said Gurunanak Bhavan, which belongs to Department of Youth Service and Sports (DYSS), would be handed over the school. It was also approved by the cabinet during his tenure as the CM.

Short comings
However I M Vittalmurthy, Principal Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture said that during the visit of Secretary to Central Government (Dept of Culture) Abhijit Sen Gupta about the NSD, Gupta pointed out that an auditorium alone would not suffice for the school.

“He said the entire Gurunanak Bhavan complex is needed. We were under the impression that DYSS has agreed to let out the entire complex. Now the matter need to go back to the Cabinet. The Centre has also asked for four acres of land which the state government is arranging on the outskirts of the city in consultations with Bangalore University ”, he said.

The DYSS, meanwhile, has forwarded a letter to the state government protesting against handing over the entire complex for NSD.

A department official said the complex is a place for much of the activities of the department. More than 50,000 people utilise the complex for various activities. The complex comprises of a Table Tennis hall, where TT tourneys are held regularly. The department has given rooms to Youth Hostel Association and Mountaineering Association to run their registration centres free of cost.

“ Our department does not have this kind of ample space elsewhere. Let the Centre set up the school in the four acres promised by the State Government”, the officer said.

Commenting on the brewing resentment from the department, Vittalmurthy said that the department was not in a position to shift its offices to other buildings immediately because of the various activities that happen there. The issue would however be settled by mutual consultations.

Prasanna reacts
The man who was began a struggle for the NSD in the first place, Prasanna had this to say. “The then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy promised that Gurunanak Bhavan would be given for NSD. It is very sad to learn that the state government is dillydallying to fulfill its own promise. Then theatre lovers staged a protest against the Centre for neglecting non-Hindi language theater. But now the time has come to stage a protest against the state government itself.”

1 year ago
It is already a year since theatre personality Prasanna staged a hunger protest demanding that the Centre should set up National School of Drama in Bangalore. But the demand is yet to be met.

Prasanna began his hunger protest on January 5 last year in the premises of Ravindra Kalakshetra demanding that the Centre should treat all regional languages on a par with Hindi and set up National School of Drama in all languages.

He ended his protest on January 9 after Union Minister for Culture Ambika Soni assured him that the Centre would set up NSDs in five states including Karnataka in the 11th five year plan. The then chief minister of Karnataka H D Kumaraswamy assured Prasanna that the state government would provide Gurunanak Bhavan in Vasanth Nagar for the NSD.