Policy on 'Horanadu' Kannadigas in the offing

Kannada and Culture Minister Govinda Karjol told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday that a meeting of top officials of the higher, primary and technical education departments, besides representatives from the departments of law and labour and Department of Public Administration and Reforms (DPAR) will be held in Bangalore on June 30 to chalk out the guidelines.

As a case in point, Karjol narrated a recent instance wherein three students, who had studied in Kannada medium schools in the border district of Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh were denied admission to an industrial training institute (ITI) in Raichur stating that they were not from Karnataka.

The principal told them that only Kannadigas could seek admission in State-run ITIs.

Dharna staged

Following the incident, the angry residents of the villages the students hailed from locked the gates of the Kannada medium school and staged a dharna. Tempers cooled after the minister sent word through the Mehboobnagar Deputy Commissioner that the Karnataka government would order that the students be admitted.

“Lack of a clear policy on the status of Horanadu Kannadigas  is creating confusion and problems. We will resolve the issues soon”, Karjol said.