Folk project stuck,Tope promises action

Unfortunately,in the birth centenary year of Yashwantrao Chavan,the movement he started to keep Marathi folk tradition alive for future generations is virtually dead,with its office remaining closed,the apparent reason being state government apathy.

Noted linguist and writer Keshav Phalke,appointed chairman of MRLS on October 3,2011,has thrown up his hands in despair after all his efforts to resuscitate the samiti went in vain.

He has sent “umpteen proposals” to the state government asking for funds to make MRLS functional.

“It is most unfortunate that ministers fail to understand the importance of this samiti and the work we are supposed to do. Folk literature is the mother of all literature and folk dance and music the genesis of all dance and music. Marathi culture is rich in folklore that varies from place to place within the state itself. If we do not preserve it now,it will be lost forever,” said Phalke.

The samiti is supposed to carry out and promote research in folk culture and folk literature.

Since March 21,2012 to May 13,2013,Higher education department in the city had sent eight proposals to the Higher Education Ministry seeking funds for the samiti,but there has been no response from the government,said an official.

The samiti,officials say,has been redundant after the tenure of its former chairperson,the late Sarojini Babar. “The samiti has the task of reviving and preserving folk culture. During the time of Babar 15 years ago,funds were available and she was very enthusiastic about the work in this field. She has done a lot of work in compiling and researching Maharashtra’s folk literature. But after that,the samiti kind of fell from grace due to paucity of funds. After Babar,hardly anything has been done,” said P R Gaikwad,Director,Higher Education.

The Higher Education department had last year sought Rs 75 lakh for the samiti to function. In October Rs 40,000 was sought by the samiti for calling a meeting but it was not granted. The proposals sent by the samiti included money for state-level conventions,introduction of folklore in school syllabus,research on dialects spoken in border areas of the state,grants for authors of folk literature and compilation of a folk literature dictionary.

As of now,the samiti’s lone member is chairman Phalke.

“Earlier,there were four members. Their posts lapsed due to non-availability of funds,” said Phalke. “I organised a meeting in February putting money from my own pocket. Nothing could be done after that,” said Phalke.

Phalke has a PhD in Banjara folk literature and is a retired deputy secretary of the education department. As chairman of MRLS he is supposed to get a vehicle,driver,petrol,and facilities to visit places across the state. All he has is a locked office without any funds,members or infrastructure.