Karnataka - Raichur   

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike sets deadline

T.A. Narayanagouda

Raichur: Members of the Karnataka RakshanaVedike have planned to stage protests outside all offices of the Union Government in Bangalore and all district headquarter cities in the State if the Centre does not take a decision on according classical language status to Kannada before January 18.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, T.A. Narayanagouda, president of the vedike, said that several pro-Kannada organisations had been appealing to the Union Government to accord classical language status to Kannada. Even the State Government had been urging the Centre to consider the demand. But there was no response, he said. He said that elected representatives and leaders of various political parties in the State had failed to convince the Union Government on this count.

A delegation of the vedike had met Union Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil and submitted a memorandum to him in this regard. It is said that Mr. Patil had already convened a meeting of heads of the departments concerned. On December 15, heads of all the maths and eminent writers from the State would meet President Pratibha Patil and urge her to initiate steps in this direction. On the implementation of the recommendations of the High Power Committee for Redressal of Regional Imbalances, he said that a vedike delegation would soon meet Governor Rameshwar Thakur to urge him to take steps to implement the recommendations at the earliest.

It would also seek his attention on the overall development of all backward villages in the border areas of the State, and urge him to look into the possibility of implementing the recommendations of the Sarojini Mahishi Committee, which called for employment opportunities to Kannadigas in private and public sector organisations, he said.

He said that the vedike would organise a divisional-level conference of its office-bearers to discuss the demand of the people of the Hyderabad Karnataka region for an amendment to Article 371 of the Constitution.

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Karnataka Rakshana Vedike sets deadline

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