Comprehensive Bill on Kannada: Govt to invite suggestions, opinions from public

BENGALURU: The state government will seek opinions and suggestions of people to effectively implement the “Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill”, said Kannada and Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar.  The Bill aims to introduce Kannada as one of the languages in higher, technical and professional courses. It stresses on reservation to those who have studied in Kannada medium in higher, technical and professional education. It also talks about reservation for Kannadigas in industries.

Sunil Kumar told The New Sunday Express that there is a need for a public debate on the Bill. “There is no urgency. We will take the opinion of the public as it matters a lot. Just because we have the majority in both Houses, it does not mean we are going to pass and implement the Bill immediately. We are now allowing the public to take part and give suggestions. We will wait and see what they have to say,” he added.

He, however, made it clear that the government will not withdraw the Bill. “We have taken a major decision and framed the Bill. This has never been done before. We are ready to take any suggestion that is good for Karnataka, Kannada language and Kannadigas,” he asserted.

On providing reservation in the private sector, he said the government will fix reservation for each industry, sector-wise. “The garment, IT and other industries are different and we cannot have the same reservation criteria for all industries. We will fix it according to each sector. We will formulate the rules once the Bill is gazetted. It will have the reservation clause and if industries don’t implement it, their incentives will be withdrawn,” he added.

He said the Kannada and  Culture Department will recruit 75 people across the state. “We are constituting committees at the state, district and taluk level for effective implementation of the Bill. The committees have to meet once every three months and submit reports to the government,” he added.