1. Implementation of Kannada use in signage boards to be delayed after Guv sends back Ordinance
With Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returning to the State government the Ordinance to amend the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act, 2022 — which seeks to make 60% Kannada use mandatory in signboards of shops and commercial establishments — the February 28 deadline for its implementation is in question now. Government will now have to wait for the Budget session, scheduled to start on February 12, for the Act to be amended and implemented.
While it had earlier been reported that Mr. Gehlot had “rejected” the Amendment Bill, the Governor’s office issued a clarification that the Ordinance had only been sent back to the State government “with the advice to present the said Bill before both the Houses of State Legislature for approval” during the Budget session. Following violent protests by pro-Kannada organisations over business establishments in Bengaluru sidelining Kannada, the Congress government had taken the ordinance route.
