Karnataka CM says no Hindi in Bengaluru Metro
BENGAL U RU: K ar nat aka chief minister Sid dar mai a hon Thursday informed the minister for housing and urban affairs Narendra Singh Tomar that Hindi will be dropped from metro signboards at Namma Metro rail stations here and that the Centre must respect the “cultural aspirations and sentiments of the people of the state”.
In a letter written on Friday, he said, “An issue has arisen out of the usage of Hindi in metro station sign ages. Thegovernment’s chief secretary had written to the ministry of urban development that the metro project must follow the Karnataka Official Language Policy, according to which only Kannada and English should be used .” The controversy raged on after pro-Kannada activists defaced Hindi signages on two occasions this month.
Siddaramaiah argues that despite both the Central and state government holding equal equity stake in the project ,“the financial contribution of the state government is much more than the Government of India ”. He says the supervision of operations and provision of security lies with the state. “Therefore, it would be appropriate that policies of the state government are implemented in the project,” the letter said. Sid dar mai ah adds that with the completion of the first phase of the project, and the increase in number of commuters using it, the “mild protests” that took place in the past have “begun to take a violent turn”.
Citing the widespread protests that have taken place, with many litterateurs from the state lending their voice for the removal of Hindi from signboards, Siddarmaiah says it is counter-productive to continue to insist on the use of three languages, including Hindi.The letter goes on to argue that even in terms of practicality it would be better to use those languages that local scan read. And in this regard, as commuters are comfortable with using Kannada and English, he says, Hindi is not essential.