Deadline for Bengaluru shops to implement 60% Kannada signage extended by 2 weeks

“It is important that we uphold our mother tongue in utmost respect. Therefore, we expect this law to be duly followed, and we shall see compliance with it by the end of the two-week extended period,” he said.

The Karnataka government amended the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act to ensure that all signages in the state have a 60 per cent Kannada component. The move followed protests by pro-Kannada organisations against the use of 100 per cent English signage by shops and commercial establishments in the state.

In December 2023, Kannada activists vandalised English signage at many establishments in north Bengaluru in protest against the non-usage of Kannada on signboards.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced at the time that his government would introduce a law to ensure that 60 per cent of space on signboards and nameplates are dedicated to Kannada, with the rest left to any other language.

“Kannada is supreme in Karnataka and the government will take all steps to promote the language,” Siddaramaiah said in December 2023.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a circular in December 2023 saying that all commercial establishments in Bengaluru must erect signages in Kannada prominently before February 29, 2024.

The Karnataka government passed the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development (Amendment) Bill, 2024, last week to mandate 60 per cent Kannada usage in name boards of various establishments in the state. All outlets will have to display Kannada in the upper half of the signage, according to the Bill.

The Bill was introduced as an ordinance in the first week of January, days after pro-Kannada protestors resorted to violence in parts of Bengaluru over the lack of Kannada in name boards. However, the governor did not clear the ordinance and returned it to the government and recommended tabling it as a Bill in the state legislature.