Award winning Carnatic music exponent says authorities still playing blame game with bank nearly three months since his concert
Award winning Carnatic music exponent says authorities still playing blame game with bank nearly three months since his concert
Au00a0leading Carnatic music exponent has been struggling to claim his payment for a Mysore Dasara concert in September. A cheque he received from the government bounced, and he has since been running from pillar to post to claim his dues.
M G Venkata Raghavan, an acclaimed classical singer, received the cheque from the information department but it was returned in the first week of October. The Rajyotsava award winner feels it is callousness on
the part of the government to discriminate like this between local talent and outsiders, who he said faced nou00a0 problems.
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Ragahavan performed at the Jaganmohana Palace in Mysore on September 23, and got a cheque for Rs 15,000 for it. This annoyed him because other artists had got over Rs 1 lakh. When he protested, the authorities enhanced the remuneration by Rs 5,000, and Raghavan received two cheques by post.
While the cheque for Rs 5,000 could be encashed, the other was not honoured.
Passing the buck
When he contacted the authorities, he said they blamed the State Bank of Mysore, while the bank in Mysore blamed the information department for the lapse.
"It is almost three months now, and I am not able to get a proper reply from the government, leave alone the money they owe me," said Raghavan.
After the concert, he said he had paid the musicians and accompanying artists out of his own pocket, besides bearing the travel costs from Bangalore to Mysore and back.
Venue issues
Raghavan has another grouse. He had wanted a concert at the Darbar Hall of the main palace, reserved for senior musicians. But the information department allowed him to perform at the Jaganmohana Palace, for only one hour, while he said three hours was a 'decent duration' for any musical concert.
"It is a sort of insult," said Raghavan. "While singers like Balamurali Krishna and K J Yesudas are given a chance repeatedly to perform in the Darbar Hall, I am ignored. They don't know I am a Mysorean and the Rajyaotsava was given to me considering I belong to Mysore district."
Mysore deputy commissioner Manivannan said there was no intention of insulting the master. "It was not a deliberate step to move Raghavan's concert to the Jaganmohana Palace. By the time he approached us, the schedule at the Darbar Hall had been finalised," said Manivannan.
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Manu Baligar, director, information department of the Karnataka Government, said things would be rectified soon. "The cheque has not been returned because of a lack funds in the account. There was a technical error and we are rectifying it," said Baligar |
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