Karnataka expands British Council partnership

The Government of India — Karnataka, through its Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, has expanded its partnership with the British Council. This collaboration aims to strengthen English language learning, library services, and knowledge access in rural areas by increasing the number of British Council Library Corners in Gram Panchayat Arivu Kendras from 10 to 70. The British Council will provide 3,000 English children's books and free access to its digital library resources. The agreement was signed on March 12, under the chairmanship of Priyank Kharge, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and IT/BT, and Deputy High Commissioner Chandru Iyyar, between Arundhathi Chandrasekhar, Commissioner, India — Karnataka Panchayat Raj Commissionerate, and Janaka Pushpanathan, Director, South India, British Council. This initiative is part of India — Karnataka's broader effort to build one of the largest rural knowledge networks in India, with plans to expand to over 12,000 rural libraries.