Kannada gottilla*? Well, go figure!

Bangalore doesn’t have any government study centers where Kannada can be taught

Kannada is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world.

By Rutvick Mehta

BANGALORE (Sept. 13)—There are no government study centers or training centers for people who want to learn Kannada in Bangalore, with authorities citing lack of teachers as the reason.

However, the government has provided a grant of Rs. 20 million to set up study centers for Kannada in foreign universities such as those in Austria and Germany.

A spokesman for the state body that promotes the Kannada language said recruiting and supervising Kannada teachers would be burdensome for the organization.

“Government centers can’t be set up as we are facing a lack of staff,” said Dr. K. Muralidhara, private secretary of the Kannada Development Authority. “If any organization with a group of 30-40 people approaches us with the demand of learning Kannada, we help them by providing funds. But hiring and maintaining staff would be a burden for us.”

A similar viewpoint was expressed by Bhavikatti, general manager of the state Kannada and Culture Department.
“Whoever comes forward, we provide them funds, but there are no study centers,” he said.

Asked why there are no study centers, he said, “I don’t know,” and refused to comment further.

Kannada students forced to study privately

Under the current circumstances, therefore, people who want to learn Kannada have to go to private institutions. Even government officials who come to Bangalore from other states have to rely on private institutions to learn the language.

One such institute is Kannada Prasaara Parishat, founded and run by B.V. Raghavan. It has been 38 years since the organization was established, but it says it has received no financial assistance to date from the state government, notwithstanding Muralidhara’s claim that the Kannada Development Authority assists institutes like Raghavan’s.

Raghavan said: “The government should form an autonomous body which would set up study centers for the benefit of the people who come from outside the state. If they can’t do that, at least they can associate with organizations that teach Kannada and provide funds to them.”

Native speakers of Kannada, called Kannadigas, number around 50 million.

He said that if the state government would only provide an opportunity for people to learn Kannada, “they would jump on it.”

 “The government is spending crores [tens of millions of rupees] to encourage Kannada in foreign countries, but in what ways is it helping the language in the capital city of Karnataka?” he said.

‘No state government schemes for nonnative Kannada speakers’

Eight people studying Kannada at private institutions whom The SoftCopy spoke to agreed that government study centers for Kannada would be of great help and use to them.

K.C. Chako, a resident of Bangalore, joined Kannada Prasaara Parishat to learn Kannada 12 years ago. Now, he has enrolled his nephew in it.

“My nephew travels 23 kilometers for this purpose,” he said. “The government should set up study centers in places where there is a more cosmopolitan crowd and school or college teachers can be roped in and given incentives for their service.”

S.R. Chandran, retired general manager of state telecoms company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., who also joined a private training center to learn Kannada, said: “The [state] government has a lot of schemes, but they’re for people who already know Kannada. There aren’t many for people who want to learn it.”

Perhaps the government authorities should focus more on the development of the language in the state capital and then think of promoting it in foreign countries. The sooner that happens, the better for all concerned.

* “Gottilla” means “don’t know” in Kannada.