Rains, Farmers and Barkur

Though arrived a bit late, it rained to cats and dogs for the last few days in and around Barkur and with plenty water in the rivers and canals and in the dried up paddy fields its time for farmers to get into action. Those who were waiting for the rains are now busy preparing for netty (process of replanting the paddy seedlings in a organized way) and facing a severe shortage of laborers to work in the paddy fields.

Most of them are waiting for the seedlings to grow up for another 15-20 days for the netty,  and a few who had their own sources of water are struggling to get the laborers  and its all same in Hosala Bail or Hanehalli or Nagermutt or Pandeshwar.

Though modernization has introduced machines for agriculture, its effective use in Barkur is much to be desired. The nature of paddy fields where  the entire Bail or the field is distributed among numerous owners big and small  makes it very difficult to use machines effectively.

With irregular nature of agricultural  jobs and the attraction of more lucrative jobs at restaurants, small industries, and petty businesses most people prefer not to work in the fields. So naturally there is dearth of laborers to work in the paddy fields.

A women worker in a paddy field will get 5 Ser ( a measure of rice, roughly a Kilogram) Rice and Rs.10 cash at the end of the day and their counter part males are demanding about Rs.150 a day. Even though the Field owners are ready to pay the wages, its difficult to get the laborers required for the netty at one stretch. Many of the younger generation studying at the colleges and working at some institutions are ashamed of their elders working in the paddy fields and are preventing them from doing so.

With all these difficulties, if one manages to get the laborers, there is a shortage of Buffalos and Bullocks to plough the fields as most of the farmers chose to not to have these animals because of the high maintenance cost and hardships involved. So they have to depend on the hired Buffalos or Tillers and getting all the factors together at the right time is the biggest hurdle any farmer can take. Tillers are charged at Rs.170 an hour and  Tiller owners will not nudge till they get a substantial order as they have their own reasons of economy.

So every year more number of farmers are just abandoning  their fields, converting them into less laborious coconut plots or just selling them to be converted into residential sites if they are lucky to have  road approach to their fields.

After a break of one day, the rains have started with the same vigor today morning and the next few days will see the intensified agricultural activities in and around Barkur worsening the situation for all the farmers. They have try all the tricks to strike a balance and get the optimum output.

-Kishoo, Barkur.

Free Books Distributed.

Barkur Bhillava Seva Sangha, Shivagiri Kshethra, the association of Bhillava Community in Barkur has donated free books to students of 15 Primary Schools and 6 High Schools around Barkur.

B.N. Shankar Poojari, President, Udupi Jilla Panchayath presided over the function and distributed the books to the students.

Kota Shrinivasa Poojari, Member Udupi Jilla Panchayath, presented the monetary rewards the students who scored more than 75% marks in SSLC examinations.

Chief guest Sathish Poojari, member , Taluk Panchayath,  advised the students to concentrate more on their studies and avail the facilities offered by the association.

Akshaya D. of Vani High School, Nadoor won the prize in the quiz organized for the students.

B.Jaru Poojari, President, Veera Maruthi Vyayama Shaale, B.Narayana Poojari, Honorory President of the association, B.Sadashiva Poojari , President were present on the occasion.

General Secretary Santhosh Poojari welcomed and Joint Secretaries Dinesh Kambalakattu and Rathna Chamapadi read the names of the students. Ashok C. Poojari proposed vote of thanks and retired headmaster B.Sudhakara Rao conducted the proceedings.

Parish Hall on the completion, to be inaugurated on Patron’s Feast.

The long cherished dream of Barkur Parishioners is turning into a reality. The much awaited Parish Hall construction is almost complete and is getting ready to be inaugurated on 29^th June 2007, on the occasion of the feast of St.Peter, the patron of Barkur Parish.

The idea of having  its own Parish hall is  very old one and this idea has undergone many twists and places and took a firm shape somewhere around 1997-98 during the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Barkur Church. The church building was renovated and restored to its former glory in that year and excess funds were reserved for the building of the Parish Hall. Somehow this idea never took off later for various reasons unknown, and the funds were just lying gaining a little in the form of interest , thanks to the inflation and other economic scenarios.

It was Rev. Fr. Remigeous Aranha who took up the challenge again once he took charge of the Barkur Parish from Rev. Fr.Sylevester D’Souza in the year 2004 and behold, the Parish Hall is ready for the grand inauguration at the end of this month.

The foundation stone for the hall which can cater 650 people at time was laid  on October 1^st 2007 , on the occasion o the celebration of Fr.Aranha’s 60^th birthday , in the presence of K.Jayaprakash Hegde, MLA, B.Shantharama Shetty, President Barkur Panchayath. Monsgr. Rev. Fr. Mark Gonsalves and other dignitaries.

Built at a cost of about Rs.25 lakhs, this Parish Hall will be very useful for the parishioners for organizing weddings, anniversaries and various other celebrations easily at Barkur itself without the hassles of oraganisnig such celebrations at neighbouring places like Kallianpur, Sasthan and Brahamavar.

The Pasrih Hall will be inaugurated by K,Jayaprakash Hegde, MLA, and B.Shantharama Shetty, President Barkur Panchayath.  Rt.Rev. Dr. A.P. D’Souza, Bishop pf Mangalore will bless the hall and preside over the function. V.Rev. Msgr.Dr.Valerian D’Souza, Episcopal Vicar, Udupi, and Sathish Poojari, Member, Taluk Panchayath, Udupi will be the guests of honor.

Speaking to barkuronlne.com Rev.Fr. Aranha has extended a warm welcome to all the Parishioners to join at this happy occasion and thanked profoundly to all the generous donors who have donated for the hall whole heartedly to realize this dream.

Village To College Scholarships

The annual Village To College Scholarships were distributed recently at the Dr. Gabriel Fernandes Auditorium at the Smt.Rukmini Shedthi Memorial Government First Grade College , Barkur. Retd. Principal B. Seetharam Shetty,  Gerald Gonsalves, Ex-Vice Presidenf  of St. Peter’s Church Parish Council distributed the scholarships for about 37 deserving students. The recipients were chosen from over 80 applicants, based on their financial needs and with higher academic grades.

The following number of students were chosen:

6 students from 1st year BA; 11 students from 1st  year BBM; 5 students from 1st year B.Com; 8 students from 2nd year BA; 2 students from 2nd  year B.Com; 3 students from  3rd  year BA and 2 students from  3rd year B.com.

Besides these college students, 3 of the most needy students of Pre University  from Kudru Village and one very deserving student from a  college from Udupi were also given scholarships. The amount given per student ranged from,Rs.1000 to Rs. 2000 and a few received Rs. 4000 each. The total amount dispersed this year was Rs. 62000.

Dr. Fernandes regret that he could not give scholarships to all the 80 applicants as there were no outside donations received except from one Mr. Joe Martis from Kudru residing in USA, who donated $100 for this scholarship cause.  He is very disappointed to see no one else came forward to help these very deserving students to complete their College degree.

As a senior Faculty Dr. Fernandes was given a much closer a Garage spot to park his car. Since a few years ago, the parking fee went up from $400 to $700 and he decided to choose a distant open parking spot for $ 400 per year. This makes him to walk more which he feels very healthy and also saved some money which is used to add to the scholarship funds. Also his wife's car’s air-conditioning needed replacement since last 2 years   and as he has to drive only4 miles to work, he gave his car to her and  decided to drive her old car which required $1200 to replace the air conditioning saving these $1200 which gone in to the scholarship funds. 

Talking to us over the phone , Dr. Fernandes says that he only trying to give above small deeds as a small example to help our fellow needy students, and he is sure many of us are doing well and therefore please consider to help towards this good cause. And request us to  visit www.villagetocollegefdn.org. Our visitors can  send e mails with your advice, suggestions, or comments to fernandes@uthscsa.edu.

He appreciates the efforts of  Rajshekhar Hebbar , Principal for getting more courses sanctioned for the college and as from this academic year onwards more degree awarding courses will be offered at Barkur, which may help many students to attend Barkur College rather than going away

to distant Colleges. So Dr. Fernandes  hopes that Barkur will grow more rapidly and we will be very proud to see many good changes happening soon. He also adds as an after thought that he may not have too many years to witness this rapid progress but many of us are far younger in age will surely enjoy visiting and staying in Barkur in the coming years.

Click to read more about Dr.Fernandes as our POM

More News