Free Kannada books distributed

BANGALORE: In a bid to promote reading, as many as 750 Kannada books were distributed for free to 750 households in Chikkabanavara on Sunday by the Dasarahalli Assembly Constituency Kannada Kriya Samiti. The initiative was flagged off by Dr Mallepuram G Venkatesh, vice-chancellor, Karnataka Sanskrit University.Speaking on the occasion, Dr Venkatesh called the initiative first-of-its-kind in South India. He urged people to make good use of the opportunity to preserve the Kannada culture and the habit of reading. Novels, plays, poems, essays and biographies of Kuvempu, B D Jatti and others were distributed.The organisation has distributed nearly 8,000 books in earlier programmes. This one, however, was meant only for households in Chikkabanavara. “We wanted to focus on a rural area like Chikkabanavara. Introduction to noted writers and achievers will help preserve our culture,” Kumar, president of the Samiti said.