A committee in Karnataka has now recommended that Kannada should be made mandatory for those who are doing professional courses in the state. The committee headed by Professor Boralingaiah has stated that Kannada should be introduced in professional courses, including medical and engineering, according to a report in The Hindu. This should be done from the next academic year of 2016-17 for at least two semesters, the committee recommended.

The members on this panel included the vice-chancellors of Visvesvaraya Technological University, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka State Law University, University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore and Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries University, Bidar. They also recommended that there should be separate teaching staff for Kannada and non-Kannada speaking students.

Prof Boralingaia is the former Vice-Chancellor of Kannada University, Hampi. He stated that studying Kannada would help students become familiar with the language, culture, and history of the state, the report said.

The panel stated that learning the language “should not become a punishment for non-Kannada students” and has suggested simple textbooks. The report adds that while 50 per cent of the syllabus would be uniform in all universities, the rest would be in accordance with the regional dialects, (for example, Dharwad Kannada, coastal Kannada, Kalaburagi Kannada, etc). The committee has also said that universities should set aside a fixed amount for annual grants to teach Kannada, draft textbooks and promote the language. It said the policy of any optional language should be done away with.