Mangalore : BJP district vice president Umanath Kotian, took charge as the president of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy on Dec 12 Monday.

 The former president of the Academy, Dr. Palthady Ramakrishna Achar said that, construction of Tulu Bhavan near Urwa is being delayed from long time; hence he urged the new president highlight the issue and constructs the Tulu Bhavan in his term.

He said that teaching Tulu languages in the schools will increase its chances for its development. Since the proposal to teach Tulu up to VIII Std. has been approved, he said that 200 teachers will be trained for the purpose. He also added that Mangalore University will soon start 3 Tulu courses.

Umanath Kotian assured to work with the 10 new committee members for the progress of Tulu language and culture.

The other 10 newly appointed members are Jagannatha Shetty Bala of Mangalore, Padmanabha S. Bhat of Yekkar, Prof. Thukaram Poojary of Bantwal, Prabhakar Shetty of Bangalore, Kadri Navaneeth Shetty of Mangalore, B. V. Sooryanarayan of Puttur, Ramesh Kalmadi of Karkala, Yadava Karkera of Padubidri, Manjula Shetty of Mangalore, and Durgakumar Nairkere of Sullia

Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, the Dakshin Kshetra Sampark Pramukh of RSS; Nagaraj Shetty, the president of the Coastal Development Authority; Padmanabha Kottari, the president of the district BJP; and Chandrahas Rai, the registrar of Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy were present.