Accusing the circular of “imposing Hindi” has drawn sharp reactions.
Bangalore:
A Karnataka government circular on the selection of students with knowledge of Hindi to visit Uttarakhand has sparked controversy over ‘imposition of Hindi’, with the government clarifying that there was no such direction from the state or the Center on the matter.
The contents of the purported circular that went viral states that, as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” under the “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” initiative, a tour program has been organized for students in other states, for which two The students (one boy and one girl) are to be selected from Bangalore South District of Pre-University Department.
It further said, “The college has been directed to select those students from among the students studying in PUC second year who can speak Hindi, have technical savvy and are interested in cultural and sports activities. The circular directed the colleges to share the list of such students with the office of the Deputy Director and the final selection of the students would be done by the Deputy Director.
Accusing the circular of “imposing Hindi” has drawn sharp reactions.
However, Karnataka’s primary and secondary education minister BC Nagesh clarified that neither the state nor the central government has issued any instructions regarding the selection of Hindi speaking students for the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ itinerary.
The minister’s clarification came after a controversy over a circular issued by the deputy director of the pre-university education department (Bengaluru South).
“Neither the Central nor the State Government has directed that the knowledge of Hindi or English language is mandatory for students to participate in the tour program to other states as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Independence). ” Said in a tweet.
He said that the department would take disciplinary action against the officers or employees responsible for creating confusion.
Under the tour programme, a batch of 50 students will be sent to Uttarakhand and an equal number of students will travel from the northern state to Karnataka.
Following the controversy, Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairman TS Nagabharan has written to the department urging it to change the selection criteria and provide opportunities to Kannada speaking students.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)