india

Updated: Jan 04, 2019 23:12 IST

The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government’s decision to introduce English as medium of instruction in government schools, announced in the Budget presented by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in July last year, came in for sharp criticism from Kannada littérateurs on Friday at the beginning of the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, a government supported annual literary event.

The Sammelana, saw noted writers Chandrashekhar Patil and Chandrashekhar Kambar, hauling up the government for its directive. Kambar, a Jnanpith award winner in his opening address said it was under Thomas Macaulay that the British education system was preferred over the Indian system.

“Based on Macaulay’s suggestion English became our administrative language,” Kambar said. Unlike rulers of the past, the British insisted on teaching English language to Indians, he said. “Protecting the language, culture and traditions of a state is the responsibility of the government,” said Kambar. “Kannada is what is required for daily business and cultural development,” he added.