'Hoisting flag on Rajyotsava must'

The State government will seriously look into a proposal to make hoisting of the Kannada flag mandatory at all government offices on Kannada Rajyotsava, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said on Saturday.

Speaking at a function organised to distribute scholarships to students who are pursuing postgraduate studies in Kannada literature in universities outside the State, he said the proposal mooted by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) will be brought before the next Cabinet meeting.

Presently, the State does not have an official flag of its own and the red and yellow flag is used by pro-Kannada organisations as the Kannada flag.

Gowda said the government will set up a committee headed by KDA Chairman Mukyamantri Chandru to revise and update the Sarojini Mahishi report so that the interests of Kannada language and Kannada-speaking people are protected.

The committee will study the status of Kannada and Kannada-speaking people across the State and revise the report appropriately. The Sarojini Mahishi report, which makes 58 recommendations, was submitted to the government in 1986.

“The State government is committed to the development of Kannada language. It has not been able to implement certain pro-Kannada policies due to legal hurdles. Both the Central and the State governments should enact necessary legislations to clear all ambiguity on protecting regional languages,” the chief minister said.

Kannada writer and lexicographer Prof G Venkatasubbaiah suggested that the government should make having Kannada language mandatory from class one to 10 to promote Kannada in urban areas, especially Bangalore.