BENGALURU: The first 'Namma Metro-Kannadiga of the Year' award instituted by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited was conferred on noted Kannada novelist Kumbara Veerabhadrappa.
Shockingly, barring a few, most Metro officials even on stage had forgotten to don the face mask in Covid time, photos of the event shared by BMRCL to the media reve.
The event held at the Baiyappanahalli depot to mark the 66th Kannada Rajyotsava was inaugurated by Padmashree awardee and acclaimed Kannada director Girish Kasaravalli, said an official release. BMRCL partnered with its in-house Kannada Sangha for the event.
While Metro does not allow anyone to enter the station or trains without a face mask and has collected fines upto Rs 76 lakh for not wearing the masks in the right manner on its premises most of them including BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez, were seen without masks.
The event is of significance as an initiative by BMRCL to popularise the Kannada language. It had faced much flak in the past from Kannada organisations for not having Kannada name boards or banners at stations and functions too. It had also organised singing of Kannada songs outside five stations by employees on Rajyotsava Day. Veere gasse and Dollu Kunitha art forms were performed on the occasion.