Karnataka New Law: Bank staff deal with Customer in Kannada Mandatory

The Karnataka government is likely to make it mandatory for bank staff to deal with customers in Kannada from now on. Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Secretary Santosh Hangal told ‘Economic Times’ that the Karnataka government is expected to issue a notification in this regard in the next two days.

Now Village people were facing problems in dealing with the bank officers who did not know the local language and it was the wish of many people in the state that Kannada should be made compulsory for the bank officers. The government is going to issue a notification to give credit to this demand. The Kannada Language Development Bill- 2022 was passed in March this year and one of the objectives of the bill is to promote Kannada language in government offices.

“Kannada language knowledge is essential for jobs in state government, local bodies, boards, corporations and statutory or non-statutory bodies,” the bill said. Banks having more than 100 employees should form a ‘Kannada cell’ headed by senior employees with knowledge of Kannada for use of Kannada language in day-to-day work, the bill said.

Banks should set up a ‘Kannada Kalika Unit’ (basic Kannada teaching unit) for non-Kannada employees and the government itself would provide necessary teaching staff and study materials, the bill said. In Karnataka, the government has been advocating that bank employees should learn Kannada to serve customers.

In August 2017, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) in its order had directed that all non-Kannada employees of nationalized, rural banks working in the state should learn Kannada within six months or leave the state. The authority had instructed the banks to set up Kannada units in all branches in the state in line with the existing Hindi units for implementation of the language.

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The KDA chairman had said that it was important for banks to follow the trilingual formula of Hindi, English and Kannada in all advertisements. This directive came during Siddaramaiah’s first tenure as chief minister. In July of that year, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had asked people from outside the state to adapt to Kannada culture. He emphasized on that occasion that we will not tolerate any attack on our language, land, water, and the protection of Kannada land and Kannadigas is our responsibility.