Siddaramaiah calls upon people of different mother tongues in State to speak Kannada outside homes, treat it as administrative language

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urges all residents of Karnataka to use Kannada in interactions and as an administrative language.

All people living within the State of Karnataka are Kannadigas and they should speak the language in their interactions outside homes and treat it as the administrative language, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said.

“People speak in their mother tongue in their homes, of course. But we appeal to them to use Kannada in their interaction with others, and as administrative language,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, at a public meeting after inaugurating a conference on the Gokak movement, a language rights agitation of the 1980s, on the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, on Saturday. He said he was not opposed to people learning any language, but Kannada should be given its due in the State.

The conference, organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture, Kannada Development Authority, and Raichur district administration, is part of Karnataka Sambhrama–50, a year-long golden jubilee campaign to commemorate the renaming of the State from Mysuru to Karnataka which was launched at Hampi in Vijayanagara district November 2 last year.

Terming the Gokak agitation as a historical movement, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the entry of Kannada film actor Dr. Rajkumar into it was a turning point. He suggested it should be called ‘Kannada movement’ instead of Gokak agitation in recognition of its widespread impact on the State and its policies.

Recalling his days as the first chairman of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti, which later became the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), Mr. Siddaramaiah said the then Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde had given the responsibility.

“I was elected as an MLA in 1983. Kannada Kavalu Samiti was formed in May 1983. I started signing official files in Kannada then and I continue it till date, except for the letters and files meant of other States and the Union government,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.