BENGALURU: Kannada Development Authority (KDA) president G S Siddaramaiah, with two other KDA members, visited BBMP to check the extent of usage of Kannada language within the palike.
BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad assured the president and members Dr Siddalingaiah and Chandrashekar Patil that efforts were being made in this regard. Siddaramaiah appreciated the use of Kannada on BBMP’s website, but said, “Steps should be taken to spread Kannada usage in advertisements, BBMP shopping malls and at other places.”
He then asked the commissioner to publicise the usage of Kannada through advertisements in newspapers and through other means within 15 days.Siddaramaiah advised the Commissioner to start Kannada learning centres for over 30,000 pourakarmikas. He advised that officials should be asked to conduct official work in Kannada language and offered to provide experts to train them.
The KDA president also asked for proper Kananda names to be used while renaming roads. He gave the example of Bull Temple Road, and expressed regret over the fact that the English name had become more popular than the original Kannada name - Basavanagudi Main Road.