Shun English, communicate in Kannada, Siddaramaiah tells ministers, officers

Underlining the need for Kannada to be spoken widely in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that his cabinet colleagues and officers should start preparing notes in Kannada, instead of English.

The CM was speaking after launching the logo of Karnataka Sambhrama, the golden jubilee of the state’s renaming as Karnataka.

Siddaramaiah said his cabinet colleagues and officers could use English while communicating with the union government and other states. But within the state, they must use Kannada for communication.

“Although Kannada has been the official language for many decades, negligence may be the reason behind non-implementation of Kannada in administration. Moreover, our craze for English has increased,” he said.

The chief minister lamented that even after 67 years of the state’s unification, there is no conducive atmosphere for using Kannada as the official language.

“This situation needs to change. Karnataka Sambhrama will be celebrated for one year from November 1, 2023. It will help in creating awareness about Kannada among the people,” he said.

“We Kannadigas are generous people as we learn other languages, instead of teaching Kannada to speakers of other languages. This attitude has done more harm to Kannada than good,” he pointed out.

He said Kannadigas can learn as many languages as they want, but they should not forget their own language.

“People speaking different languages have settled in the state. Everyone living in Karnataka should learn to speak Kannada. In states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, it is impossible to survive without learning the local language. But one can live in Karnataka, even if he or she doesn’t speak Kannada. That is the difference between our state and other states,” he said.