BANGALORE, Aug 6: The Central Sahitya Akademi is aggrieved by what they call an insensitive letdown by the Government in hindering the ambitious plans of the body to celebrate the golden jubilee of India's freedom.

The Central Government has shot down a proposal by the Akademi to film the life and times of India's eminent writers during the freedom struggle.With the government chiding the Sahitya Akademi for thinking big, the literary body is settling down to ``observe the golden jubilee introspectively''.

``We had many good plans, but none were accepted,'' Sahitya Akademi Secretary K Sachidanandan told The Indian Express. Repulsed by the Government `apathy towards culture and literature', the academy would now be contented by organising a get together of 50 eminent translators in India and abroad through a workshop titled `Translating India'.

Apart from this, the academy would bring out an anthology of short stories depicting ``the traumas of pre-independence and post-independence India'' and a book of the proscribed writings in the British period.

Though the government has accepted the revised plans by the Academy, office bearers are in a quandary over the release of funds. ``They have told us about the release of funds. We hope it comes true,'' said Sachidanandan.The Akademi has reasons to be apprehensive because the Centre for Translation set up in Bangalore has run into a rough patch with regard to fund allocation. The Central Government promised rupees one crore as seed capital for the Centre.

Though the Government released Rs 36 lakh for setting up the centre, it was deducted from the annual allocation for the Akademi.

The Sahitya Akademi incumbents said they face an uncertain future as far as Government assistance is concerned. ``We are waiting for the time when the government will ask us to search for funds ourselves,'' said the office bearers.

The annual government assistance for the academy is Rs 440 lakh, which the office bearers say is a pittance for a literary body of national scope. ``We bring out 200 books annually, pay royalties to the authors, hold workshops in all the 22 Indian languages and run the regional centres,'' explained Sachidanandan.

Despite the stringent conditions, Sachidanandan asserts, the Akademi plans to effect the setting up of a Centre for Tribal Literature and oral traditions in Baroda to bring disadvantaged communities into the limelight of the nation's artists and public.

Apart from bringing tribal women, Dalit writers into focus, in its agenda is also collecting anthropological history of the tribal groups and making books and cassettes on oral art forms available in the market.

Plans are also afoot to make the Bangalore based Centre for Translation based a Centre for Excellence. The Sahitya Akademi top brass who were in the city said that a museum of the modern and pre-modern Indian classics at the Centre would be instituted. ``It will be solely in charge of translating the works to other Indian languages as well as to foreign languages,'' said the secretary Sachidanandan.

Though constituted under the Akademi aegis, the Centre will have an autonomous advisory board to facilitate free functioning with a view to prevent political vested interests in the translation projects.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.