BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah again raised the issue of lack of funds from the central government, and this time to develop Kannada.
“The central government has been giving Karnataka stepmotherly treatment over the past few years. The state contributes Rs 4.5 lakh crore to the Centre in taxes, but receives a low share of grants. The Centre comes up with different policies and schemes to impose Hindi on us, and has been giving grants to develop only Hindi and Sanskrit.”
He was addressing teachers, students and education department officials on Kannada Rajyotsava Day at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
“The Centre is ignoring all other languages, including Kannada. Despite Kannada being recognised as a classical language, the Centre is not giving sufficient grants to develop it. Kannada has not received enough financial and institutional support like other languages,” he said.
He stressed that mother tongue should be the medium of instruction in schools. “Children read, write, think and dream in their mother tongue. However, only English and Hindi are promoted, hindering the progress of learning among children,” Siddaramaiah said.
‘Steps to increase popularity of Kannada’
“It is important to formulate laws to impart learning in schools in mother tongue. I urge the Central government to look into this issue,” the CM said. He said, “This year, Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi have taken our language to the global platform by winning the International Booker Prize.”
He said, “Our government has taken steps to increase the popularity of Kannada. We are doing various activities across the state under the theme Hesarayitu Karnataka, Usiragali Kannada. We have also made it mandatory for commercial establishments to have Kannada on their name boards covering at least 60% of the space.”
He said the government has spent over Rs 65,000 crore to strengthen the education department. “Over eight lakh children are studying in residential schools across the state. Over 3,000 schools have completed 100 years and 800 new Karnataka Public Schools will start from next year. Every school will have infrastructure worth Rs 4 crore,” he said.
The state government will also introduce Kannada in madrasas across the state to bring minorities into the mainstream. “Already, 180 madrasas are teaching Kannada and this will be further extended to 1,500 schools. Our government is investing Rs 83 crore to develop 100 Urdu medium schools similar to Karnataka Public Schools,” he added.
DCM DK Shivakumar, said, “A decision will be taken in the next cabinet meeting on hoisting Kannada flags in private and government offices for entire November.” He added, “We need to protect Kannada from the attacks of English and Hindi. Karnataka is not just a state, it is a place of culture. Kannada is not just a language, it is our innermost voice. Kannada is a way of life.”
