Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the rationalist thought process of Kuvempu, which said that a stagnated society needs to be treated and activated, holds good at all times.

He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating Vishwa Manava Day, the State-sponsored celebration of poet-laureate Kuvempu’s birth anniversary, in the Vidhana Soudha.

He added that the society should be free of superstition. Blind belief, caste system and socio-economic disparity were the ills of society that need immediate treatment. The State government’s decision to bring in a law against these superstitions is yet to materialise, he said.

Siddaramaiah said, “Where there is exploitation, there is subjugation and this is followed by superstitious beliefs which are rampant in lower strata of society. There should be belief but not superstitious beliefs.”

Minister of State for Kannada and Culture Umashree, L. Hanumanthaiah, president of the Kannada Development Authority and others were present.