The Kannada Development Authority on Monday issued a notice to all heads of nationalised, rural and scheduled banks to make the local language compulsory for all the bank staff. The notice said that all non-Kannada speaking staff should learn the language in six months.
In a circular issued to banks, KDA chairman SG Siddaramaiah said, “If employees fail to learn Kannada in six months, they should be relieved of their services in accordance with the recruitment rules.” The Chairman also added that all the banks should take up the notice and act on an immediate basis. He said that not paying due respect to the regional language may arise conflicts in the future.
Siddaramiah also expressed that there is a lack of interest in implementing the local languages in many banks and added Kannada unit must be set up in all the bank branches in the manner Hindi units were opened throughout the country when Hindi was implemented.
The authority has also asked the banks to follow the three-language formula in all advertisements i.e. in English Hindi and regional language. The KDA chairman said he would visit the banks to review the implementation of Kannada.
However, a senior advocate said that service conditions cannot be altered midcareer to the detriment of employees. Also, the banks said that they have still not received any such notice.