Siddaramaiah govt may soon make 'Kannada' mandatory for bank officials in Karnataka: Report

The Karnataka government is likely to make it mandatory for bank employees to deal with customers in Kannada only, the official language of the southern state. The state government is expected to issue a notification in the next couple of days, Kannada Development Authority (KDA) secretary Santhosh Hangal told The Economic Times.

This had been the demand from a section of people in the state as they felt that many coming from villages were facing problems while dealing with bank officials, who did not know the local language.

In March this year, a bill - Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022 - was passed, and one of the objectives of the bill was to promote the Kannada language in government offices. "Knowledge of Kannada language to be essential for employments in the state government, local authorities, boards, corporations and in statutory or non-statutory bodies," the bill said.

The bill also said that banks with more than a hundred employees 'Kannada Cell' headed by senior employees having knowledge of Kannada for the purpose of usage of the language in day-to-day work functions. The bill also stated that banks will also have to set up 'Kannada Kalika Ghataka' (basic Kannada Teaching Unit) for non-Kannada speaking employees and the government will provide necessary teaching staff and study materials at their cost.

This is not the first time the government has moved in that direction where bank employees have to learn the language to serve customers in Karnataka.

In August 2017, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) issued a bizarre diktat where it asked all the nationalised, rural banks' non -Kannada employees working in the state to learn the Kannada language in six months or leave. The authority had also asked the banks to set up Kannada units at all their branches in the state, in line with Hindi units that existed for the implementation of the language.

The then-KDA chairman said that it was important for the banks to follow a three-language formula in all advertisements - Hindi, English, and Kannada.

This direction had come in Siddaramaiah's first term as chief minister. In July of that year, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanded that people from outside the state adapt to the Kannada culture. "We will not tolerate any attack on our language, land, and water. Protecting Kannada land and Kannada people is our responsibility," he had said.

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