Karnataka's water warrior Kame Gowda honoured with lifetime free bus pass after PM's praise
Bengaluru: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the lake-man of Karnataka Kame Gowda, the Karnataka government on Thursday honoured him with a lifetime free bus pass to travel in all classes of state road transport buses.
Sharing the information in a string of tweets along with the photograph of the bus pass, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has issued Kame Gowda lifetime free bus pass.
A shepherd from Dasanadoddi village in Mandya district, the 82-year-old hit Gowda hit the limelight for digging about 16 ponds for providing water for the cattle he used to take to barren hillocks to graze in his village.
While the animals used to graze, he would dig the ponds.
Due to the ponds, the greenery in these hillocks too increased substantially as the water table increased.
Recognizing his work, the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had honoured him with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in November 2018.
The Chief Minister said the decision regarding a lifetime bus pass was taken as Kame Gowda had expressed his desire in an interview to a newspaper.
While emphasizing on water conservation in his radio talk, Mann Ki Baat, on Sunday, Modi narrated Gowda's story to highlight how the shepherd solved the problem of water scarcity in his village.
He even referred to him as a 'water warrior'.
The Chief Minister too recalled that Modi had mentioned Gowda's name in his Mann Ki Baat.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
