‘Naada Geethe’: Karnataka To Get Standardised State Anthem After Over A Decade Long Wait

Addressing a long-standing demand that has been echoed for the last fifteen years, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat has announced that the state will be getting a standardised version of the state anthem which will be two and a half minutes in duration.

Prominent figures from the field of literature, art and activists gathered on Wednesday, 14 November to discuss and later on recommend to the state government that the standard version of the ‘Naada Geethe’ should be timed at 150 seconds.

Since 2003, the state government has not been able to make up its mind on what recommendations to implement based on the committee it appointed. KSP has been able to do this after a long time, especially given how sensitive the matter is, since omitting even a single line could stir up controversy and attract protests.

The Hindu quoted Manu Baligar, president of KSP as saying, “We will see that the recommendations do not meet the same fate as the other three.” The other three refers to the three committees that had been formed since 2003 to look into the matter.

The first committee was appointed during S M Krishna’s tenure as the chief minister, the second under the BJP government and the last was formed with vasanth Kanakapur heading it. Due to his demise, Channaveera Kanavi took over as chairman and after five-month-long study, they came up with a recommendation that the government cut short the anthem to 90 seconds.