Pratibha Puraskar presented to Kannada medium students

Mysuru:  Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Chairman Prof. S.G. Siddaramaiah has regretted that although the Centre has taken off compulsory Hindi from its National Education Policy (NEP), the Union Government is plotting to foist Hindi on the people in non-Hindi speaking States.

He was speaking at the Pratibha Puraskar programme for Kannada medium students organised by Kannada Development Authority (KDA) at Kalamandira here on Sunday.

Maintaining that the Union Government had made Hindi mandatory in the first draft of NEP, Dr. Siddaramaiah said that the Centre withdrew it only after non-Hindi speaking States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh raised strong objection. Claiming that the removal of the word ‘Compulsory’ does not mean that the Centre has back-tracked on enforcing Hindi, the senior Kannada writer said that the Centre is working on new plans to enforce Hindi through back-door.

Calling upon Kannadigas to be wary of the Centre’s moves on enforcing Hindi, he said that English is being taught as the first language, Hindi as second language and Kannada as third language in English medium schools. Here it is to be noted that Kannada as third language is just an eyewash, he said wondering whether Kannada will maintain its status in the State, if such things happen. Noting that the previous Siddharamaiah Government had introduced a language policy in the State, that made learning Kannada mandatory, Prof. Siddaramaiah regretted that private schools came as a stumbling block to the policy.

Bemoaning that all these developments lead one to ponder whether Kannada can stay as a medium in Government Primary Schools. Observing that several non-Hindi languages too are facing the same situation as that of Kannada, he underlined the importance of having the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in Primary Education.

Criticising the Government for introducing English medium in Government Schools at a time when English is playing havoc with Kannada, he opined that the Government’s move was against Rashtrakavi Kuvempu’s  line of thinking.

MLA L. Nagendra, in his address, expressed concern over shrinking Kannada voices in Bengaluru. Quoting a survey which said that the number of Kannada speakers in Bengaluru was just 27 percent, he urged the Government to take immediate measures for promoting Kannada and to stem the influence of other languages on Kannada.

A total of 321 Kannada medium students from eight districts of Mysuru Revenue Division, including 171 of SSLC and 150 of PUC, who scored high marks were presented Pratibha Puraskar on the occasion.

The first prize carried Rs.10,000, second Rs.9,000 and third prize Rs.8,000.

Senior writer Prof. C.P. Krishna Kumar (CPK), MLC R. Dharmasena, Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, Zilla Panchayat (ZP) President Parimala Shyam, Taluk Panchayat (TP) President Kalamma Kemparamaiah, KDA Secretary T.K. Muralidhar, DDPU Panduranga, Kannada and Culture Assistant Director H. Channappa, KDA Members Girish Patel, Prabhakar Patil and others were present on   the occasion.