BENGALURU: Amid debate over the implementation of the two- or three-language policy, the Kannada Development Authority has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to adopt a two-language policy—Kannada and English—in Karnataka.
Namma Naadu Namma Alvike (NNNA), a citizen collective, raised concern over Hindi imposition, calling for Kannada and English to be the only compulsory languages in education, governance and public communication in the state, and KDA Chairman Purushothama Bilimale forwarded the petition along with his letter batting for a bilingual policy to the CM.
The petition, drafted by Dr Ramesh Bellamkonda, convener of NNNA, highlighted concern over language injustice, particularly in Union government policies that favour Hindi speakers in competitive examinations, governance and employment opportunities. It criticises the exclusion of regional languages in central recruitment processes and urges Karnataka to implement a Kannada-English bilingual framework.
The petition argued that Hindi is being unfairly projected as the national language, despite the Constitution not designating any language as such. Moreover, major national-level examinations, such as UPSC, SSC and bank recruitment, are conducted only in Hindi and English, creating an unequal playing field for non-Hindi speakers.
The petition called for regional languages to be included in national-level recruitment processes to ensure equal access to government jobs for all linguistic communities and urged the state government to encourage the use of regional languages for patriotic slogans instead of Hindi.