60% Kannada signage rule: Karnataka government extends deadline by two weeks

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced the extension on X on Thursday.

Bengaluru: The state government has extended the deadline for the enforcement of ‘60 per cent Kannada in nameboards’ rule by two weeks. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced the extension on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

“Considering that it takes time to change the signage, the Karnataka Government has decided to extend the deadline given to commercial establishments by two more weeks so that the 60 per cent signage in Kannada rule can be followed,” the announcement said.

The earlier deadline for the enforcement was February 28, and the Bruhat Bengaluru Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had made arrangements to seal down the shops that had failed to adhere to the law. However, the civic body was later flooded with requests to extend the deadline.

“Many traders pointed out that they needed skilled workers to write the nameboards, and since many traders were getting them changed, there was a rush. Hence, they requested that the deadline be extended,” said BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath.

Girinath, however, claimed that close to 94 per cent of the establishments had already changed their nameboards, and the extension will help others also to adhere to the norm.

“We have conducted a detailed survey and identified that 55,178 traders were not following the ‘60 per cent Kannada in nameboard’ rule. Of these, 52,134 of them have already changed their nameboards, and only another 3,044 of them are yet to change. We are confident that these establishments will also make the change soon,” he said.

The state government had notified the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development (Amendment) Act 2024 on February 26 after passing the legislation both in the assembly and council. The Act mandates establishments to ensure that their name board displays 60 per cent in the Kannada language and Kannada shall be displayed in the upper half of the name board.

Much before the Act was notified, BBMP had announced 60 per cent space for Kannada in December last year with the civic body setting on February 28 as the deadline.