<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday promised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the Centre will consider convening a meeting of chief ministers to take their views on amending the Constitution to make mother tongue the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The chief minister, who met the prime minister here, told reporters that the latter responded positively to his suggestion to convene the meeting of the chief ministers at the earliest. <br /><br />“The prime minister expressed his surprise over the recent Supreme Court order, quashing the State government’s 1994 language policy, making mother tongue or Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools,” Siddaramaiah said. <br /><br />The chief minister said that he had told Modi that the apex court judgement will have all-India repercussions and will be a major blow to regional languages.<br /><br />The Centre must intervene and protect regional languages, he said. <br /><br />Siddaramaiah, who had skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Modi, said that there was no need to attach any political significance to it. <br /><br />On Tamil Nadu’s demand to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, the chief minister said that he requested the prime minister not to take any hasty decision on the issue, as a monitoring committee already existed to oversee the sharing of water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.<br /><br />On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha had requested the prime minister to constitute the Board to supervise sharing of the Cauvery water among the riparian states.<br /><br />Allocate funds<br /><br />Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah met Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda at the Rail Bhavan and requested him to allocate maximum funds from the Railway Ministry to Karnataka to complete pending projects. <br /><br />Gowda rejected Siddaramaiah’s request to reduce the State’s share in the costs of railway projects. <br /><br />He said that in the interest of Karnataka, the State government should share the costs. <br /><br />The Railway minister said several states were sharing the costs and Karnataka too should follow suit.<br /></p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday promised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the Centre will consider convening a meeting of chief ministers to take their views on amending the Constitution to make mother tongue the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The chief minister, who met the prime minister here, told reporters that the latter responded positively to his suggestion to convene the meeting of the chief ministers at the earliest. <br /><br />“The prime minister expressed his surprise over the recent Supreme Court order, quashing the State government’s 1994 language policy, making mother tongue or Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools,” Siddaramaiah said. <br /><br />The chief minister said that he had told Modi that the apex court judgement will have all-India repercussions and will be a major blow to regional languages.<br /><br />The Centre must intervene and protect regional languages, he said. <br /><br />Siddaramaiah, who had skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Modi, said that there was no need to attach any political significance to it. <br /><br />On Tamil Nadu’s demand to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, the chief minister said that he requested the prime minister not to take any hasty decision on the issue, as a monitoring committee already existed to oversee the sharing of water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.<br /><br />On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha had requested the prime minister to constitute the Board to supervise sharing of the Cauvery water among the riparian states.<br /><br />Allocate funds<br /><br />Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah met Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda at the Rail Bhavan and requested him to allocate maximum funds from the Railway Ministry to Karnataka to complete pending projects. <br /><br />Gowda rejected Siddaramaiah’s request to reduce the State’s share in the costs of railway projects. <br /><br />He said that in the interest of Karnataka, the State government should share the costs. <br /><br />The Railway minister said several states were sharing the costs and Karnataka too should follow suit.<br /></p>
