Keraleeyam to be hosted in December, govt to find sponsors for expenses

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is planning to host Keraleeyam programme this time in December. It was held in November last year. A meeting of the organizing committee was held under the leadership of the chief minister to discuss the implementation of the programme. Departments were also directed to meet the expenses through sponsorship.

The government has not yet released the sponsorship figures of last year's Keraleeyam programme. Keraleeyam was a programme that the government claimed was not all held with sponsors. Despite several requests for sponsorship figures under the RTI Act, the concerned departments have not yet responded. Although questions were raised in the assembly, only the figures spent by the public relations department have come out.

As part of the Keraleeyam programme, the state government spent Rs 1 crore 55 lakh only for the cultural programmes held in the Central Stadium. This is only the cost of seven performances. Shobhana was paid Rs 8 lakh for her dance on the first day. On the second day, the government gave Rs 8,30,000 for the special show organized by Mukesh MLA and GS Pradeep. The programme presented by Murugan Kattakkada and his team was on the third day. An amount of Rs 4,05,000 was spent for the programme 'Kavya 23', based on a collection of poems.

K S Chitra's ganamela was on the fifth day. Rs 2,05,000 was paid by the government. Rs 3,80,000 was paid for the fusion show by the artists of Kalamandalam. The cultural department paid Rs 1,19,000 for the programme organized by Stephen Devassy and Mattannoor Sankarankutty. The Jayam show led by M Jayachandran was the last and the one that allocated the highest amount. 9,90,000 was sanctioned for the event held on the concluding day.