BBMP Officials instructing shop owners co operate to implement 60x40 Kannada in sign boards.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The state government on Tuesday introduced a Bill in the Assembly mandating 60% use of Kannada in signboards of businesses across the state.
The Kannada Language Comprehensive Development (Amendment) Bill was introduced by Kannada & Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi. The government wanted to promulgate an ordinance for this. However, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returned it, asking the government to present the Bill in the legislature.
Currently, the law requires use of Kannada in the “upper-half portion” of boards displaying the names of businesses without specifying the percentage.
The Siddaramaiah administration had decided to take the ordinance route in the wake of violent protests by pro-Kannada outfits that targeted businesses in Bengaluru for not giving prominence to the state language.