Orissa Telugu Yuva Samakhya president M Venkat Ramana and secretary K Nageswar Rao submitted a memorandum to the Andhra Bhasa Bibardhan Samajam here on Friday urging it to expedite the reconstruction and renovation work of the century-old socio-cultural building Prakasham Hall located on the main road of the Giri Market in the heart of the city.
The Prakasham Hall is the only heritage building that provides a platform to the Telugu community in the city to hold their socio-cultural-literary functions, besides having a public library with a community information centre with a large number of most valuable documents.
For last few years, this institution was in news for alleged misappropriation of funds and Government assistance received for the purpose of renovation and reconstruction of the building. In the name of renovation and reconstruction, the institution has been closed, as a result of which the traditional art, cultural, social and literary functions of the Telugu community are in limbo. There is no progress at all in the reconstruction, renovation or development work, the memorandum said.
The task of management and security of the building has been entrusted to the Andhra Bhasa Bibardhan Samajam, which is now virtually defunct, the memorandum said.
The Orissa Telugu Yuva Samakhya, a wing of the Orissa Telugu Samakhya, submitted the memorandum in support of its four-point charter of demands.
The demands included completion of the residual reconstruction and renovation work within a period of three months and dedicate the Prakasham Hall to the Telugu and Odia communities; eviction of all cloth merchants from the hall and construction of a mini hall for artists to stage their performances and practice; inclusion of the youths community as members of the Andhra Bhasa Bibardhan Samajam; and shifting of the micro tower from the premises of the building as it poses a serious threat not only to the building but also to human lives in the locality.