Representative image of a shop's name board in English.
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: All commercial establishments in Bengaluru must use Kannada prominently on their name boards — as much as 60 per cent — by February 28, 2024, or lose their trade licence and face legal action, a top civic official said on Sunday.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will soon start identifying establishments that do not follow the requirement, and send them notices.
The civic body's Chief Commissioner, Tushar Girinath, stipulated this at a meeting called in Malleswaram by pro-Kannada outfit Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), which has launched an aggressive campaign to promote the use of Kannada.
Despite Bengaluru's emergence as a cosmopolitan city, Kannada remains an emotive issue for many residents, who argue that the language must take pride of place in India's IT Capital.
As per state government rules, commercial establishments are required to use Kannada prominently on their name boards. Save for sporadic protests and campaigns by pro-Kannada outfits such as KRV, this rule was seldom enforced strictly.
But this could change.
According to Girinath, shops, restaurants, and other commercial establishments in the BBMP limits must follow the Kannada name board rule in toto.
As per a BBMP statement, the civic body will survey all the 1,400 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city to identify shops that do not follow the rule. Errant shops will soon be issued notices, specifying February 28, 2024, as the deadline.
The survey will be monitored by the BBMP's zonal officers, who will face action if they fail to enforce the rule.
The BBMP will also hold a meeting with mall owners in the city limits and give them 15-20 days to comply with the rule. Mall authorities are to ask all shops on their premises to prominently display Kannada on their name boards or else face legal action.
While the BBMP didn't specify the legal action, this could mean a fine.
KRV state president T A Narayana Gowda told DH that they launched the drive after the authorities of a newly opened mall in Hebbal refused to comply with the Kannada rule. The outfit then brought the matter to the BBMP chief's notice, he added.