Mangaluru : Minister for Higher Education and Tourism R.V. Deshpande said here on Friday that the all institutions of higher education will be involved in the celebration of International Yoga Day on June 21 without any compulsion.

Talking to presspersons at the University College where he inaugurated a Konkani study chair of Mangalore University, set up with a government fund of Rs. 2 crore, the Minister said that as June 21 would be Sunday many educational institutions would be closed but participation in the celebration would be voluntary.

Earlier addressing a gathering after inaugurating the chair, the Minister said that the government would sanction more funds if required for the chair to take up activities relating to Konkani language and culture.

The Minister said that Konkani had a thousand-year history and it should be spoken and preserved. Calling it as a “secular language” he said that it was being spoken by people of many religions. P.S. Yadapadithaya, Registrar (administration), Mangalore University, said that about 40 communities spoke Konkani and an estimated 40 lakh people spoke the language in the State.

Ivan D’Souza, MLC, said that the final preparations for preparing Konkani texts for pre-university were under progress. President of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy Roy Castelino said that the new chair would have activities related to the development of Konkani language and its culture and also look at issues related to the language, which is one of the 22 recognised national languages in the country.

Mr. Castelino said that the university should develop this chair as an apex body in conducting doctorate, post-doctorate and fellowship programmes in Konkani language studies.