BANGALORE: More than 55 Kannada schools in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, where Kannadigas are in good numbers, are on the verge of closure as the Maharashtra Government has stopped recruiting teachers for the schools, the Karnataka Gadi Horata Samiti has alleged.

Samiti chairman B.K.R. Rao Byndoor, told presspersons here on Wednesday that Kannada schools in Maharashtra had become "victims" of people like Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, who were stoking Marathi-Kannada rivalry.

There were 55 schools in Mumbai under the Brihan Mumbai Corporation where 6,000 children were studying. There was a requirement of 403 teachers in these schools, but only 118 teachers were on the rolls. At least 30 of them would be retiring over the next two years. There had been no recruitment since 1996, he said.

Prof. Byndoor said one could only conclude that this was a conspiracy to gradually "kill Kannada," and leave the Kannada students with no choice but to study Marathi. Kannada-dominated areas in Maharashtra were more in number than Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka; yet, Karnataka had never made a demand for those areas being given to it. In fact, the Marathi schools in Belgaum and other places were well run and maintained, he said.

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