BENGALURU: Following an outcry from commercial establishment owners over the short period for implementing the 60% Kannada rule in name boards, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced that the government has extended the deadline by another two weeks. The earlier deadline was February 28.
Taking to social media on Thursday, Shivakumar said, “Considering that it takes time to change the signage, the Karnataka government has decided to extend the deadline given to commercial establishments by two more weeks so that the 60 per cent signage in Kannada rule can be followed.”
“It is important that we uphold our mother tongue with utmost respect, therefore we expect this law will be duly followed, and we shall see compliance to it by the end of the two-week extended period,” he added.
Explaining the move, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girnath said, “As many shopkeepers have to put up Kannada name boards, there is a huge demand for labour involved in this. Keeping in mind the shortage of such labourers, we have extended the deadline to install Kannada name boards by two weeks. After this, if boards are not changed, then the commercial units will be shut down and their trade licences will be cancelled.”
He said there was positive response from businesses on implementing 60 per cent Kannada of their name boards and more than 90 per cent of establishments have fallen in line. “Of the 55,000 shops and establishments identified by our officials, only 3,000 are yet to fall in line,” Girinath said.