Karnataka Janapada Academy, to be set up in Haveri district, is going to be the country's first folk varsity. The varsity will be spread on an area of 560 acre, B S Channabasappa, Chairman of the Karnataka Janapada Academy said. While briefing reporters about the four-day All India Folklore Conference to be held in Bidar in Karnataka from April 22, he said that all necessary documents have been submitted to the State Government and ''in the month of June, the process of launching the university will start.'' He also added that the All India Folklore Conference had attracted 54 scholars from different parts of the country, including those from Jammu and Kashmir. Over 300 folk artistes would be participating in the conference. Chief Minister B S Yedyyurappa would inaugurate the conference. The conference will have nine sessions in which folk scholars would discuss about the development of folklore in their respective States, he said. The Academy had been organising conferences, workshop, seminar, training sessions, folk exhibition, documentation and cultural festivals related to folklore for the last 25 years, he added.
