Poet Balachandran Chullikkad has come out against the remuneration paid to him for delivering a lecture on January 30 at the International Literary Festival of Kerala organised by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi in Thrissur recently.
In a social media post, Mr. Chullikkad said that the organisers paid him ₹2,400 as remuneration for delivering a talk on Kumaranasan’s Karuna.
“I spoke for two hours on the topic. I had to spent ₹3,500 as taxi charges for travelling from Ernakulam to Thrissur, including the waiting charges and driver’s batta. The ₹1,100 that I paid over and above the remuneration of ₹2,400 was earned as my wages for acting in serials,” he wrote.
Urging “enlightened Malayalis” not to invite him anymore for such cultural events, Mr. Chullikkad reminded that Malayalis are ready to pay thousands and lakhs of rupees as remuneration for mimicry and musical programmes. “I am thankful to you for making me realise that my value is only ₹2,400. I would also like to inform you that I have not yet come forward requesting membership in the akademi or to receive special membership from your Ministers,” he said.
An oversight: akademi secretary
Reacting to Mr. Chullikkad’s comments, akademi secretary C.P. Aboobacker said that the payment of ₹2,400 was “an oversight” on the part of the akademi staff and it will be rectified.
“We have informed him that the akademi will pay the taxi charges incurred. Though the akademi is facing financial constraints, we try our best to meet such expenses. The remuneration of ₹2,400 is the amount fixed for the speakers in such programmes,” he said.
Dileep Raj, academic, supported Mr. Chullikkad’s position while pointing out that intellectual contributions were not adequately recognised in Kerala. However, he said that there was a need to ensure democracy while holding such cultural programmes.
Of the 22 speakers who were given a one-hour slot that discussed topics such as caste and representation of women during the fest, there were only two women, while there was no representation for Dailt intellectuals, he said.
K. Satchidanandan, president of the akademi, said that the remuneration was fixed as per the kilometres recorded for his travel. We have resolved the issue. The question of writers not getting due remuneration is a common social issue, he said.
