Karnataka CM to 'continue legal battle' to mandate Kannada in education institutes

Amid the ongoing battle between the Karnataka Government and students regarding making the Kannada language compulsory in education institutes, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday asserted that the state government will continue its fight to make Kannada compulsory at every level of education, including primary, secondary, and degree levels. He added that the government is ready to fight a legal battle on the issue.  

Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court, which has been hearing the case on the Kannada Language Learning Act, granted time to the state government to reconsider the legislation and opined that students from outside the state cannot be forced to learn the Kannada language. 

The High Court bench was hearing a PIL filed by the Samskrita Bharati Trust, Bengaluru along with several other institutions which questioned the validity of the government order issued in the month of August and September 2021 respectively. As per the order, the Karnataka government brought an ordinance making Kannada compulsory at primary, secondary, as well as degree levels. 

'We will continue our struggle for it legally': CM Basavaraj Bommai

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, while speaking on the state government's decision to mandate learning the Kannada language at every education level said,

"After I became Chief Minister, our government introduced the new National Education Policy which gives prominence to the mother tongue. We had brought an ordinance making Kannada compulsory not only in primary or secondary education but also at the degree level. The matter is presently before the high court. We will continue our struggle for it legally, there's no second doubt. The government is making complete engineering courses available in the Kannada language. At least 15 colleges have come forward to offer degree courses in Kannada. They are teaching in Kannada and are giving degrees in Kannada."

Karnataka Government mandates learning Kannada under NEP 2020

Earlier in the month of August, the Karnataka government under the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 made Kannada a compulsory language for all undergraduate degrees from the current academic year. The notification issued by the state government states that students will have to opt for Kannada as one of the subjects in their course. 

Meanwhile, the language has been already mandated for engineering and medical courses and those who have not learned the language at the school level will be introduced with the 'Basic Kannada' text. 

(With agency inputs, Image: PTI)