Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jul 28: With instances of vandalism on Namma Metro signboards written in Hindi language on a rise, chief minister Siddaramaiah wrote to union minister for housing and urban affairs, Narendra Singh Tomar, asking him to remove the usage of Hindi in Metro signs.
The CM’s letter written on Friday stated, "Although the state government has dealt with those who defaced the signages and maintained law and order in and around metro stations, you would agree that in the face of continued agitation and demands from litterateurs and intellectuals of the city for giving primacy to the language of the state and the languages with which the people of the city are comfortable with, it is counter-productive to continue using the three-language policy."
Stating that the matter is a 'sensitive' one, CM Siddaramaiah said, "It will be better to follow a persuasive approach rather than a mandatory one in the use of Hindi.
"It is not essential to use Hindi in signages as commuters who use Metro are comfortable with reading and understanding Kannada or English," he said.
"Therefore, the state government is compelled to ask the BMRCL to temporarily redesign the signages in metro stations and remove Hindi script," the CM wrote in the letter.
Objections on the use of Hindi in Metro signboards started when the first leg of Namma Metro (Baiyappanahalli to MG Road) was completed. The Karnataka Chief Secretary had written to the chief secretary of the urban development ministry asking him to approve usage of only two languages.
However, the union urban development ministry in an order dated December 9, 2016, had written to the BMRCL MD that a three-language policy (local language, Hindi and English) is mandatory in all non-Hindi speaking States.
It was highlighted that the Centre also contributed financially to the Namma Metro project. Countering this, Siddaramaiah stressed that the financial burden of the State is much higher as it bears the cost of land acquisition, operating losses, and all debt-servicing. “It would be appropriate that the policies of the state government be implemented in the project,” he said and asked Tomar to “review his earlier decisions”.
In June this year, an online campaign “Namma Metro Hindi Beda” gained prominence. This lead to activists camouflaging Hindi language sign boards with black paint across metros stations in Bengaluru. The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike also staged protests outside the Vijayanagar Metro demanding that the government remove the Hindi signs.
According to the protesters, Hindi is not a national language and they believe that the Centre is imposing Hindi on them. Pointing out that Hindi is not used in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, they say that if a third language needs to be used, then it should be Tamil or Telugu, as a larger population in Bengaluru speak these two languages.
The CM’s decision comes a day after the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) wrote to him, pointing out violations in language and recruitment policies by the BMRCL.
The KDA has stressed that all low-ranking jobs (cleaning, security staff) must be reserved for Kannadigas, as the BMRCL is a State government agency.
The CM’s letter to the Centre has been hailed as a victory of the Kannada campaign.