CM Siddaramaiah to hold meeting over signboard protests

A high-level meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is planned for this Thursday to discuss the forced installation of Kannada signboards at stores and offices. According to sources, representatives from the state Culture Department and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the main civic organization in the city, will attend the meeting. The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has directed that all name boards for commercial establishments must bear the phrase “60 per cent Kannada.” This has caused the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) to express concern earlier on Wednesday.

The FKCCI, while reiterating that it will always follow the rules of the government, stated that it will also instruct its members to adhere to the orders of the state or BBMP.
However, the FKCCI also urged the state government not to initiate any action under the above rule until the deadline of February 28, next year.
“We request the Government of Karnataka and BBMP not to initiate any action for the above rule till the deadline of 28th February 2024 and also urges the Government to ensure that no one takes law in their own hands to harass the Trade and Commercial establishments,” Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president, FKCCI said in a statement.
Bengaluru Police, on Wednesday, detained the members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a pro-Kannada activist group, who staged a protest in Bengaluru demanding that all businesses and enterprises in Karnataka put up boards in Kannada at their shops and commercial establishments in keeping with the state’s obligation that 60 per cent of them are in Kannada.