'State to follow Maharashtra model to enforce Kannada'

The government will emulate the Maharashtra model of enforcing official language in the State, Leader of the House S R Patil told the Legislative Council on Tuesday.

Taking part in a debate spurred by the BJP’s Tara Anuradha questioning the government’s “laxity” in enforcing Kannada as the official language, Patil said the government was making all possible methods to effectively enforce Kannada as the official language. The government will take the MLC’s concerns “seriously” and try to address them, he promised.

The BJP MLC said that in Maharashtra, bureaucrats deputed from the Central cadre had to learn Marathi by taking an examination within two years of their deputation. If any official fails to meet the desired levels of learning that language, they are sent back to the Central government, she said.

On his part, outgoing MLC of the JD(S) M C Nanaiah attacked the government for reducing the percentage of seats available under the RTE Act in linguistic and religious minority institutions.