Karnataka   

Emulate Tamil Nadu’s policy on language, Government told

BANGALORE: Lexicographer G. Venkatasubbaiah on Tuesday urged the State Government to take a cue from Tamil Nadu on evolving a policy to make Kannada compulsory from class I to X.

Mr. Venkatasubbaiah was speaking at the valedictory of the birth centenary celebrations of Kannada writer the late Aa. Na. Kru organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture here.

Tamil Nadu’s proclaimed language policy, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, would help solve many Kannada-related issues and make all children learn Kannada in a span of 10 years irrespective of their mother tongue, Prof. Venkatasubbaiah said.

On the mastery over Kannada and contribution of Aa. Na. Kru to Kannada literature, he said non-availability of Kannada books on those days made the writer take refuge in English literature and practised Kannada writing on various topics. Jnan Pith Award winner U.R. Ananthamurthy said that reading Aa. Na. Kru was a pleasure. Writers such as the late Aa. Na. Kru and Shivarama Karanth were responsible for Kannada gaining a strong foothold in the State.

But Kannada was now on the wane, he added.

The Union Government should realise that the Centre-State relationship would be under strain if it did not evolve a policy that could ensure that the local people got the jobs at lower rung in all organisations, he said.

Stating that Kannada should change for catering to the needs of social, political, cultural and educational needs, Prof. Ananthamurthy said that Kannada movements should follow the non-violent models provided by persons such as the late Alur Venkata Rao, the former Chief Minister S. Nijalingappa and the thespian of Kannada cinema Rajkumar and not Raj Thackery of Maharashtra Nava Nirmana Sena.

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Emulate Tamil Nadu’s policy on language, Government told

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