Mangaluru : The Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy will relocate from the present rented premises at Hamilton Circle to Second Floor, Old Mangaluru Taluk Panchayat building, on March 21. It will return the 20 cents of land at Neerumarga and seek the allocation of a new piece of land for construction of Beary Bhavan. As many as six new books in Beary will be released at a function to be held at University College on March 20, said academy chairman Rahim Uchil here on Tuesday.

The Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy will prevail upon the government to introduce Beary as a third language for primary classes in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, said academy chairman Rahim Uchil here on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Uchil said that to save Beary from extinction, the academy recently requested Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar to include the language as part of the curriculum in the primary schools. Konkani and Tulu are already being taught in schools, he said.

Mr. Kumar, he said, acted swiftly and the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) has asked the academy to form Beary textbook creation and screening committees. Mr. Uchil said that he has sent to the DSERT his and 12 other names as members of the two committees. “We are awaiting their approval,” he said.

The academy, he said, was working to bring out the Beary textbook with Kannada script. There were a good number of Beary speakers who are keen on making their children learn in the language they speak.

“We intend to have the textbook in place by the new academic year (in June). We want to first have the textbook for Class 6,” he said and added that the academy will try introducing Beary in schools in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi before moving to Chikkamagaluru and a few other Beary-speaking areas in the State, he said.