No Kannada? Your shop is sealed

No Kannada? Your shop is sealed
BY ASHWINI Y.S.
BENGALURU


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Businessmen in namma Bengaluru will have to mandatorily display boards in Kannada or be ready to shut shop. And this time there might not be any warning from the government.

In a push for namma bhashe (our language), Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairperson, Mukhyamantri Chan dru, going a step ahead of his predecessor, has said that shops and establishments without boards in Kannada will be penalised.

In 2007, Dr Siddalingaiah, ex-chairperson of KDA, had said that the government will initiate legal measures against shops, business establishments, hospitals, cinemas and organisations, and persons responsible for public and private hoardings, that have not displayed signboards in Kannada prominently. The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2007, an Act to be implemented across the state, had authorised KDA to book cases against those violating the Act through the Department of Labour.

Mr Chandru told Deccan Chronicle that the KDA will push for heavier penalties. “We will increase it to Rs 10,000. If the violator does not adhere to this, then we will order the shop be shut for a year. Further violations will result in cancellation of renewals.” He said neither the government nor the KDA were against display of signboards in any scheduled Indian language, but they were keen on Kannada boards being displayed prominently. Under the proposed Act, a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 and a three to six months sentence can be imposed in case of first-time offenders.

Second-time offenders would attract a flat penalty of Rs 20,000 and six months to a year in prison.