Amid protests in Bengaluru over the usage of Hindi signs in the city's metro stations, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) will now be approaching the state government for permission to remove the sign boards from the stations across the city.
Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of BMRCL, told The Quint that the metro authorities has not taken a decision on the issue, instead they will await the state government’s instructions.
BMRCL’s decision to approach the government for permission takes the anti-Hindi crusaders closer to victory, as there was no response from the BMRCL earlier on the issue.
The decision comes after officials of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) visited the metro stations on Tuesday evening.
SG Siddaramaiah, the chairperson of the KDA, said that officials at BMRCL were given instructions to have signboards in only two languages – English and Kannada.
BMRCL has been asked to overlook the Central government’s three-language policy by the KDA.
The three-language policy is applicable to the Central government establishments like post offices and airports. BMRCL is a state government undertaking and this policy doesn’t applySG Siddaramaiah, chairperson of the KDA
Siddaramaiah added that during the meeting with BMRCL authorities, it was communicated that a failure on part of the BMRCL would result in a privilege motion against BMRCL. However, the KDA doesn’t have the power to initiate action.
When asked about it, Siddaramiah said that if BMRCL doesn’t remove the boards, they would approach government to initiate privilege motion against them.
With both BMRCL and KDA approaching government for wisdom, the fate of Hindi boards are with the state government.
Meanwhile, former KDA chairperson Mukhyamantri Chandru on Tuesday also advocated for hiring people for the metro staff who are local or well-versed with Kannada, reported The Hindu.
At the same time, amid calls for increased emphasis on the usage of Kannada in all metro departments, Kharola said that while the language was being used in land acquisition and public relations departments, its implementation was difficult in departments where interface with foreign firms and technical expertise was needed.
He was quoted by The Hindu as saying:
Since we have financiers from other countries, we have to communicate in English. Even in our technical wing, the supervisory staff is not local but we need their expertise. Our equipment is imported and all training manuals are in English and so we cannot implement Kannada in these sections
Angered over Hindi signs being prominently used across metro stations, the Namma Metro Hindi Beda campaign has been gathering vast support from netizens and also from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The protest against Hindi imposition witnessed activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike blackening the Hindi signs at various metro stations across the city. Thirty-six cases were filed against these activists following the incident.
(With inputs from The News Minute and The Hindu)
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