Mangaluru, Aug 9: RSS veteran Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat has lashed out at Karnataka government for withdrawing financial grant, given through the Kollur Mookambika Temple, to two government-aided private schools managed by the Sri Rama Vidyakendra Trust.
Bhat, who is alpha and omega of the Trust, accused Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai and chief minister Siddaramaiah of resorting to hate politics taking revenge against poor school children.
According to Bhat as many as 2,250 poor students including Dalits and minorities were benefiting from the government grant. The trust was getting rice and other commodities for midday meals and textbooks. The temple had started giving cash since three years and accounts had been maintained.
“If Ramanath Rai wants to harm me, let him fight me directly instead of making those poor children scapegoats,” Bhat said adding that he was ready for any sacrifice to give education to the children.
“We will run the educational institutions at any cost. We don’t even hesitate to beg for the sake of those kids,” he claimed.
Nearly 3 crore granted
The Muzrai temple in Udupi district has granted Rs 2.83 crore to the two schools in the last decade — from 2007-08 (during the BJP-JD(S) coalition government) to 2016-17, towards midday meals, textbooks and uniforms of students.
According to the Government Order on July 31, 2017, the adoption of the two schools — Sri Rama Vidya Kendra, Kalladka, and Sri Devi Vidya Kendra, Punacha — has been cancelled. The temple had granted Rs. 2.32 crore to Sri Rama Vidya Kendra and Rs. 50.72 lakh to Sri Devi Vidya Kendra during the period.
The order said that as per the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997 (Rules 2002) no private educational institute can be adopted by any temple. Granting fund would be a burden on the temple.
C. Janardhan, executive officer of the temple, said that the two schools had been adopted by the temple as per the order of the then State government in 2007-08. Only these two schools had been adopted. The temple itself manages seven schools in Kundapur taluk in Udupi district. Of them, one is government aided and six are unaided, he said.
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