BANGALORE: Former Mayor G. Narayan on Sunday blamed the elected representatives from the State for the delay in obtaining "classical status" for Kannada.

Mela

Speaking after inaugurating "Kannada Samskriti Mela" organised here by Kannada Anusthana Mandali, Mr. Narayan said, "It is unfortunate that Kannada has not been accorded the status of classical language even though it has a history of thousands of years. This is because our elected representatives did not provide relevant documents and information to the Centre. It is because of their negligence Kannada is yet to be recognised for the status."

Urging the Centre to recognise Kannada as a classical language at the earliest, the former Mayor regretted that many Kannadigas were not getting jobs in their own State. "People from other States come and settle in Karnataka. Instead of teaching them Kannada, we Kannadigas learn their language. This is unfortunate," he said.

Stating that it was because of this Bangalore was known as a cosmopolitan city, Mr. Narayan said the day was not far when Karnataka would turn into a cosmopolitan State.

Chief Executive Officer of the Bangalore Urban Zilla Panchayat C. Somashekar said that he had directed the subject inspectors of all government schools in Bangalore Urban district to organise seminars and discussions on the formation of Karnataka. "This is to mark the Suvarna Karnataka celebrations," he added.

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