Over 100,000 Govt Employees are Not Proficient in Kannada !
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Oct 1: Strange but true. Over a Lac Karnataka government employees, including top IAS and IPS cadre officers, are not proficient in the state’s official language of Kannada.

And, believe it or not, a large number of the state government employees ``are finding it difficult to make use of the language in the day-to day administration.’’

These starting findings have come to light in an exhaustive survey conducted by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) headed by BJP leader Mukhyamantri Chandru, MLC.

The survey, according to the BJP leader, revealed that several top government officials among the over six lac government staff were not conducting the day-to-day administration in the state’s official language ``on account of their inability to write and read the language accurately.’’

Chandru announced KDA’s plans to hold an eight-day conference on Kannada language from November 7 in the border town Kasaragod in the neigbouring Kerala state as part of the initiative to promote the language.
The main objective of the conference, he said was to further the ties between Konkani, Tulu, Kodava, Beary languages along with Malayalam speaking people residing in Kasaragod.

A multi-language film festival, folk art exhibition, essay, other competitions would be organised during the event. Representatives of both states would participate in the conference. Nearly 70 per cent residents of Kasaragod speak Kannada language and there are 150 Kannada medium schools in the district, he said.

On the lack of knowledge and the ability or proficiency to read, write and even speak Kannada fluently among the government employees, Chandru said KDA and the Kannada and Culture Department have decided to jointly organise a training programme for 1,00,300 government employees, who are not proficient in Kannada, by incurring an expenditure of Rs 2.50 crore over the next two years.
The training programme to be organized in the first week of November would be inaugurated by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

While employees in the A and B categories would be given a three-day training, those in the C category would be given one-day training. The C category employees would be taught to refine and speak the language in a better manner,  Chandru said.

The KDA chairman said a three-day training programme would be organised for IAS and IPS officials numbering 4,000 at the Administrative Training Centre, Mysore.

The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) has been asked to issue a circular directing all identified officials to attend the programme compulsorily.

All employees would be given booklets on use of the language in the state administration. As energy, public works and home departments use technical words in orders and circulars, a separate training would be organised for employees of these departments, he said.
 
A total of 6,600 employees in A category,  62,350 employees in C category and 27,350 in D category would be given training before March 2010.

He said 225 resource personnel, who have been given training at the Kannada University, Hampi, would be involved in the training programme for A category  of employees in batches.

A committee headed by Deputy Commissioners has been constituted in each district to monitor the training programme for B and C categories of employees. About 15 resource personnel would be identified for providing training for B and C categories of employees in districts, the KDA chairman added.