BENGALURU: The Karnataka government, which plans to honour 69 prominent personalities with Kannada Rajyotsava awards to mark the 69th year of the unification of the state, has set up a selection committee with 50 members.
The Kannada and Culture Department stated in its circular that the minister concerned Shivaraj Tangadagi will be the chairman of the committee which includes 13 chairpersons of different academies as ex-officio members.
Former chairman of the Backward Classes Commission and senior counsel Dr CS Dwarakanath, music director Hamsalekha, retired IAS officer Ravikumar, actor Ravichandran, scholar Ramjan Darga, writer-cum-environmentalist Nagesh Hegde, agriculture expert Mallikarjuna Hosapalya, journalist Siddaraju, theatre personality C Basavalingaiah, Hindustani vocalist Pt M Venkatesh Kumar from Dharwad, Dr Thimmappa of McGann Hospital in Shivamogga, sports personality AB Subbaiah among others are part of the committee.
The deadline to file nominations for the award was September 30 and over 1,700 nominations were received, according to sources. The awards will be conferred on November 1 on Kannada Rajyotsava Day.