Udupi: Writer and Columnist K. Shivananda Karanth said that the people of Kundapur la Taluk have contributed immensely to Karnataka and India in various fields.

It also includes Gangolli. Doctors have contributed to medical fields. Literatteurs through stories, novels, and travelogues. Our achievements in the hotel industry, setting up of a bank, art, culture, and theatre activities are great, he noted.

He was speaking after presiding over the 18th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana of Kundapur Taluk, which was inaugurated at Gangolli Vittala Shenoy Auditorium and Amasebailu Gopalakrishna Kodgi Vedike at Saraswathi Pre-University College premises in Gangolli on Sunday February 19. “Kundapur, a language spoken by more than 15 lakh people from more than 300 villages with immense literary and cultural wealth, should be given a special status by the Government. Kundapur Kannada Academy and Kundapur Kannada Peetam should be established. But it is sad that neither the representatives of our local bodies nor the MLAs have made a serious effort in this regard. “I wonder if all of them want the youth to fight on this issue,” he said.