New Delhi: As the battle of language politics picks steam ahead of the Karnataka assembly election next year, union minister and former Karnataka CM DV Sadananda Gowda met HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday to demand autonomous status for Kannada Development Authority.
The KDA is a government agency formed to promote the use of the language. In the past, it has put forward demands such as banking exams, college entrance exams, signboards on Bengaluru Metro and government websites only use Kannada.
Gowda presented a memorandum to Javadekar and was accompanied by a 14-member delegation that also included KDA chairman SG Siddaramaiah Gowda.
“KDA demanded from the minister that autonomous status must be given to the authority. They should appoint project directors in classical language and grant more funds. We have been assured that our demands will be addressed,” he told News18.
The delegation also demanded the appointment of a project director for Centre for Classical Studies' Kannada wing be finalized soon as the body is currently headless.
“Kannada is a classical language. If KDA gets autonomy, it will boost the sentiments of the people. We are attached to regional language,” the former minister said.
“The government should recommend UNESCO to include Kannada in its tradition of publishing history of classical languages on its domain,” the memorandum read.
The delegation also asked the minister to conducting competitive examinations, including NEET and JEE, in Kannada. The HRD Minister assured the delegation that the demands will be considered.
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