Lamenting on the lack of will in implementing Kannada as the official administrative language of the State, Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Chairman Mukhyamantri Chandru on Monday said adoption of Kannada by all government departments was still a dream.
Speaking at the release of a Technical Kannada dictionary by energy utility BESCOM in the city, Chandru said as long as orders continued to be passed in English, it would remain inaccessible for the common Kannadiga in the state.
“Senior officials and even lower courts, where the lawyers and judges are Kannadigas, continue to neglect the language. The KDA has been trying to change the attitude amongst people who think they can trample upon the local language,” he said.
He said the language needed to be made functional since in Bangalore itself, Kannadigas were in a minority.
“For words without exact translations, we can use the words as they exist. However, it is just as important to start using Kannada in day to day work,” he said.
Praising the initiative by BESCOM, Chandru said each government department must come out with its own reference manuals/dictionaries which would help employees use appropriate technical words.
“Also these Kannada dictionaries, once released, should not become museum pieces. Instead, they must be used by the employees”, he added. The dictionary was the result of efforts by BESCOM employee S K Nagaraj and his team.
BESCOM Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Pandey said every department must have a separate translation team. All those present strove to make Kannada usage more mainstream.