The Karnataka government has issued a notice to Managing Director of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Anjum Parwez, for “neglecting” the state’s official language of Kannada at the inauguration of the new Nayandahalli-Kengeri Purple Line stretch. The controversy arose due to the fact that at the event, held on August 29, no Kannada signage was displayed on the main dais.
Karnataka Minister for Energy, Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar issued the notice, seeking clarification for the “blunder”, on Wednesday, September 1. He also called for action against the officials responsible for it. "The official language of the state was not used on the display boards on the main dais of the event. This is a serious issue. The negligence of the native regional language in the capital city is serious," Sunil Kumar said.
The Minister also noted that language is an emotional issue, and negligence in the matter could not be tolerated since it will send a “wrong signal” to the people of Karnataka. “The government departments, which should uphold the Kannada language and culture of the state, seem to have turned a blind eye towards this. This is considered as dereliction of duty on the part of BMRCL," he added.
“The use of Kannada has been made compulsory at all government programmes, yet in spite of this, the BMRCL has shown negligence,” the Minister stated in the order.
Karnataka's minister for Energy, Kannada & Culture @karkalasunil issues notice to MD of Bengaluru Metro (BMRCL) over ignoring Kannada in placards, backdrop during the flagging off of a new stretch earlier this week. @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai & Union min @HardeepSPuri were at event pic.twitter.com/kZncAuNt8S
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) September 1, 2021
Speaking to TNM, an official from the Public Relations Office of the BMRCL said that the background panel was written in English, which caused the issue. “The background panel for the function was printed in a constricted amount of time after ahead of the inauguration. BMRCL did not intentionally commit the mistake, it was unintentional,” the official said. He added that the Chief of PRO, BL Yeshwanth Chavan, apologised for the blunder and that Anjum Parwez has also sent a written clarification to Sunil Kumar.
In a tweet, Chavan wrote that all the background panels carried both Kannada and English except the main background, which drew the ire of people. Claiming responsibility for the incident, he tweeted, “As a PRO, it is solely my responsibility; I regret the mistake and take action so as not to make such mistakes. It is requested that this mistake be forgiven.”
ಫಲಕವು ಮಾತ್ರ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದುದರಿಂದ ಆಕ್ಷೇಪಣೆಗಳು ಮಾದ್ಯಮ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜಾಲಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಈ ತಪ್ಪು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಂಪರ್ಕಾಧಿಕಾರಿಯಾಗಿ ಇದರ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಹೊಣೆ ನನ್ನದೆ ಎಂದು, ತಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ವಿಷಾದಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ತಪ್ಪುಗಳು ಆಗದಂತೆ ಕ್ರಮ ವಹಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಈ ತಪ್ಪನ್ನು ಮನ್ನಿಸಬೇಕೆಂದು ಈ ಮೂಲಕ ಕೋರಲಾಗಿದೆ.
— ನಮ್ಮ ಮೆಟ್ರೋ (@cpronammametro) August 30, 2021