Expressing dissatisfaction over the disinterest that Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Kalaburagi had allegedly shown in addressing the issues in the way of implementation of Kannada in governance during a meeting of Kannada Jagruti Samithi (KJS) a few months ago, S.G. Siddaramaiah, Chairman of Kannada Development Authority (KDA), said that it was the Deputy Commissioner and not his/her deputy, who must convene a meeting of KJS.
“The ADC of Kalaburagi forced the KJS members to wait inordinately for the meeting. When he came, he treated the members in an objectionable manner. He apparently had no interest in the effective implementation of Kannada in governance,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said and asked the Deputy Commissioner, R. Venkatesh Kumar, to hold the meeting himself instead of getting it done by his deputy.
“KJS units are formed in all the districts. But, the sad thing is that a very few of them are functioning properly having regular meetings. It is mandatory that the Deputy Commissioners of every district should hold meetings once in every three months to oversee the implementation of Kannada in governance,” he said.
Banking
Referring to the complaints that he received from the public on the poor use of Kannada in the banking sector, Mr. Siddaramaiah asked the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that all the bank transactions and communications involving public were carried out in Kannada.
“As many as 18,000 employees have been recruited by the banks in Karnataka between 2015 and 2017 and only a few hundreds of them are Kannadigas. It is because of the restructuring of recruitment rules and procedures in favour of non-Kannadigas. Now, these bank employees sitting in the rural branches have become a problem for local people as they do no’t communicate in Kannada. They have even published the essential transaction materials such as challans in English and Hindi only,” he said.
He also directed the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that all communication and banking material involving public should be printed in Kannada and English.
“Karnataka has adopted a bilingual policy with Kannada and English. Hindi is an optional language for us. It is not right to strike out Kannada to accommodate Hindi bank material. And Hindi is not a national language as some people wrongly argue often. There are 22 official languages and Hindi is one among them,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah also directed the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that the official websites of all the government departments would have Kannada as their default language and English as an optional language in their home page. “You [the Deputy Commissioner] should also see that all the judgments in courts are delivered in Kannada,” he said.
He also took objection to Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL) officials for having most of their written communication in English.
