13 PU lecturers assigned to announce schedules at Hassan’s Hasanamba festival sparks protest

The Hassan district administration has appointed 13 pre‑university college lecturers to operate the public‑announcement system at the Hasanamba temple for the festival that starts Thursday. Deputy Commissioner K.S. Latha Kumari issued an order forming the Hasanamba Utsava Information Announcers Management Team‑2026, a 14‑member panel in which 13 members are the lecturers. Their task is to broadcast queue‑management instructions, darshan timings and other arrangements to devotees on the temple grounds. The move has drawn sharp criticism from the lecturers’ community. District Lecturers’ Association president Sanne Gowda led a group that met Excise Minister K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, the district in‑charge minister, and the Assistant Commissioner, who oversees the temple, on Tuesday. The lecturers asked the order to be withdrawn, arguing that the duty would clash with the Department of PU Education’s directive to finish the syllabus before December and start preparatory exams. "If lecturers are engaged in festival duty, teaching will suffer," Sanne Gowda said. Another lecturer, who asked to remain unnamed, pointed out that the PU Department already bars teachers from taking any work beyond classroom duties and even prevents attendance at academic‑enhancement programmes on holidays. Yet the administration has involved them in festival duties, he complained.

Context

The festival draws large crowds, requiring organized announcements, while PU teachers are under pressure to complete the academic calendar before year‑end, creating a clash between civic duties and educational commitments.