BELAGAVI: Chairman of the Coalition Coordination Committee Siddaramaiah has expressed resentment over the state government’s weak stand on the medium of instruction in government schools, and its continued indifference in giving a final shape to the new taluks.
Siddaramaiah, who had ahead of the 2018 assembly elections as well as Lok Sabha elections, played the regional pride card along with the Karnataka flag, Kannada language and anti-Hindi imposition as key agendas, reiterated the need for Kannada as the medium of instruction.
His statements are in contradiction to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s grand plan of implementing English as the medium instruction in government schools across Karnataka. During his visit to Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts on Sunday, Siddaramaiah recalled his unrelenting attempts to ensure that the government makes Kannada the medium of instruction.
He said the Supreme Court’’s directives that the choice of medium of instruction in schools was an issue left to the parents, was against the larger interests of regional languages. He was inaugurating an event hosted by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) to present Kannada Language Awards in Bagalkot.
“In the interest of regional languages, I wrote to the Prime Minister and appealed to CMs of all states to bring pressure on the PM. In my letter, I expressed my wish to bring an amendment to the Constitution, if needed, to protect regional languages, but in vain, as the PM did not respond,” regretted Siddaramaiah.
Commenting on his opposition to making Hindi compulsory by the Centre, Siddaramaiah said it was unfair to impose Hindi. The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had also written to the Centre against this, he said, while insisting that the state government too objected to it in strong terms.
Highlighting the significance of Kannada as the medium of instruction, he said it was vital to protect the interests of Karnataka and its land and water. “Unfortunately, the apex court is against the policy of medium of instruction and so eventually its verdict came against it. The efforts made by my government did not yield any results in court,’’ he said.