Much has been spoken and written about Dr. KM Srinivasa Gowda, the ex-chairman of the BTC who passed away last month. Ashok Mandanna’s worthy tribute on this very website has brought out the multifaceted personality of Dr. Gowda. In addition, as one who has known ‘Doc’ for over five decades, I thought that it would be only appropriate to highlight his major contributions to the cause of racing and the BTC, which many are not aware of.

Though ‘Doc’ Gowda was a steward of the BTC for ten years and Chairman for two, probably his biggest contribution to the BTC came in 1988, when he wasn’t even a member of the club.

A series of unsavoury incidents in the mid 80's had prompted the Karnataka Government to set up a Racing Commission to study & propose measures for the proper conduct of racing in the state. The Commission recommended that a Karnataka State Racing Board be set up and licensed to control and administer racing, and the Government to terminate the leases and hand over the land & assets of the two race clubs to the Board. BTC and MRC, were to be divested of all responsibilities in the conduct of racing & the only concession to members of these two clubs would be preference in grant of Stand membership of the new Board.

In the battle to preserve the club’s identity and control of racing, Dr. Gowda played a key role. With his contacts in academia, he was able to get Bangalore University to conduct a survey to elicit views of racegoers.  A subtly drafted questionnaire saw the overwhelming majority vote against the proposed government takeover, and the outcome was headlined on the front pages of all the local newspapers, thanks again to ‘Docs’ friends and contacts in the press. The Government, wary of public opinion, backed off and instead let the club introduce a number of progressive measures to restore public confidence.

As part of the same campaign, Dr. Gowda helped promote and foster the ‘myth’ - now firmly ensconced as a belief - that the club was protected by a small shrine near the entrance to the stables and that any Chief Minister or government that interfered with the race course would come to grief. Assorted facts and coincidences were stitched together to manufacture this narrative and ‘Doc’ prepared a note in Kannada and personally delivered it to the Vidhana Soudha where M.P. Prakash, a minister and also a theatre enthusiast read it out at a cabinet meeting. The note was met with laughter & derision - " we are rational, not superstitious people". BUT shortly thereafter Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hedge was forced to quit. The small shrine has since metamorphosed into a regular temple, attracting even film stars, helped no doubt by the whispered publicity that the previous Chief Minister Mr. Yeddyurappa, who tried to evict the BTC & lost his chair, later came to pray at the shrine.

When VAT was introduced in 2004-05 Dr. Gowda was Chairman. His personal rapport with the finance minister Mr. Siddaramaiah was instrumental in convincing the government to levy the lowest possible tax slab rate of 4% on betting on the tote. The effect on the betting turnover at the BTC was dramatic with turnover rising threefold from @ Rs. 480crores. to @ Rs. 1240crores in 2010-11. The growth momentum was set & so strong, that even when the tax was doubled to 8% in 2011-12 the tote bandwagon continued to roll. It peaked @ Rs. 1900crores in turnover before the change to GST @28% in 2016-17crippled the tote.

The longstanding issue regarding the status of stable employees, on whether the onus of paying statutory benefits such as Salary, PF, ESI, Gratuity etc, was on the owners, the trainers or the club threatened the holding of the Golden Jubilee Invitation cup in 2011-12. The matter was finally resolved after sustained negotiations during Doc's second term, as chairman, by the formation of the Bangalore Animal & Stable Employees Welfare Society to take responsibility for these payments. This insulated the club and there has been no disruption of racing due to strike threats since.

Probably one of the more memorable moments of his time with the BTC came when the club donated Rs. 25 lakhs in the early 2000’s to the Akshaya Patra Foundation, to distribute free midday meals in government schools. The head of the foundation, in saffron robes, came warily to the racecourse on the last day of the season to thank racegoers. However, his apprehension was misplaced, as normally cynical and hard-headed punters cheered on, finding solace in the fact that their losses were at least going toward a charitable cause.

Doctor, Pathologist, Teacher, Principal, Administrator, Steward, Playwright, Columnist, Journalist, Stage actor & Director, Doc Gowda was a man of many parts and an Excellent Human Being.

Fittingly just before his death the Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Academy gave him an award for translating Rashtrakavi Kuvempu's famous novel Malegalalli Madumagalu from Kannada to English. 

Truly A MAN for ALL SEASONS.