BENGALURU: On a day the entire state participated in the ‘Kanandakkagi Naavu’ programme, the local language found no place at the conference of tourism and culture ministers from the southern region, being held in Bengaluru.
The conference has been organised by the Union Ministry of Tourism to understand and showcase the rich culture and traditions of the eight southern regions — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But neither did Kannada, or for that matter, any of the other southern languages find any place on the boards of each of the regions put up at the venue.
That is not all. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai gave the event a miss, which is being held for the first time in the city. This is the second such conference being held in the country, the first being of north-eastern regions which was held in Assam last month.
Agitated by the absence of Kannada at the venue, state tourism officials took up the matter with the Union ministry. They also pointed that this was being repeated multiple times and regional languages were not being given importance.
Replying to the query from the media of why Kannada was not included, Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), G Kishan Reddy admitted that it was a human error, but justified it saying the event being held in Karnataka is notable in itself.
This, however, did not go down well with Karnataka Tourism Minister Anand Singh, who said, “Immediately after I came to the venue, I saw it and pointed it out to the ministry officials. They accepted their mistake and apologised for it. They also promised to correct it immediately and change the boards.
But, as a minister of the state, I do not accept it. Importance should be given to the language and it is our responsibility. The Union ministry, in fact, tried to turn tables on us stating that we should have informed them a day prior. But we are not involved in organising the event, we are also delegates here,” he said. Interestingly, after Singh pointed out that Kannada was missing, it was rectified on the digital platform.