Kannada first: KDA rallies for dismissal of non-Kannadiga engineers from Namma Metro

In a move to prioritise the interests of Kannadigas and promote the use of their regional language, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has asked the state government to replace ‘non-Kannadiga’ engineers with Kannadigas in Bengaluru's Namma Metro.

KDA’s chairman SG Siddaramaiah has written to the Karnataka Chief Minister and some top government administrators suggesting that Kannadigas should be prioritised for recruitment in Namma Metro on par with Sarojini Mahisii report. According to the report, 100 percent of the positions in all state government establishments and State PSUs should be reserved for locals in Karnataka.

The KDA’s inspection of Metro service in the state brought up the issue of a section of metro railway staff not being able to speak in Kannada. As per a report in The Hindu, BMRCL had claimed that roughly 17 percent of its staff cannot speak in the local language.

KDA has directed the Bengaluru Metro authority to make sure all their employees can interact in Kannada and can speak the language.

Additionally, it has asked them to create Kannada sanghas to provide a platform for employees to engage in introducing Kannada language and culture among outsiders living in the state.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told India Today that the Kannadiga pride has always been very important and their culture and ethnicity would be a part of the state's agenda.

The KDA has also sent directions to scrap Hindi usage in signage and implement the old two language policy of Kannada and Egnlish.

When asked about the engineers, BMRC managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said that the hiring was done purely on the basis of technical capabilities with concentrated efforts to hire more locals in the future.

The KDA chairman stated that action must be taken against the BMRC for misleading the government and creating confusion over the use of three languages in the signage.

The move comes amid strengthening ethnic and linguistic sentiment among Kannadigas who are trying to resist the imposition of Hindi by the Centre.

Last month, there was an uproar on Twitter with the hashtag ‘NammaMetroHindiBeda’ (no Hindi in our metro) after state authorities put up signboards and instructions in Hindi in Bengaluru Metro. The Hindi instructions replaced English in many places, earning the ire of Kannadigas.

Following this, the KDA had to direct metro authorities to remove the signboards.

In 2015, Karnataka had another social media protest with the hashtag ‘StopHindiImposition’ as Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a whole speech in Hindi on Independence Day.

Recently. Karnataka government has also asked for a separate flag dedicated to the state.