The University of Mysore (UoM) will submit a fresh proposal to the Central and state governments requesting them to release funds for a memorial for its celebrated alumnus and English writer R K Narayan. The varsity has also offered to take up its maintenance works.
This comes after Mysore City Corporation (MCC) refused to give money for the purpose from its State Finance Commission funds. The 106th birth anniversary of the writer, who graduated from Maharaja’s College, a UoM constituent, falls on Tuesday. University Vice-Chancellor V G Talwar told Express that the matter would be kept before the syndicate. He said sometime ago, the varsity discussed the proposal several times, but later the state decided to take it up.
“Now, we will take it up again. We will send proposals to the Central and state governments requesting them to build the memorial. Once it is done, we will academically maintain it in a manner in which everybody appreciates our work,” said Talwar.
The work on the memorial, which was conceptualised about two years ago after Narayan’s house was bought by a private builder who started demolishing it, has hit several roadblocks. The state decided to take up the work, and asked the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and MCC to share the cost.
While MUDA has aside the `2 crores for the works, the MCC moved a resolution not to spare its money for the memorial. On top of it, some Kannada writers had opposed the memorial stating that Narayan has not contributed to Kannada and hence doesn’t deserve a memorial.
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