Karnataka industry body expresses concern over BBMP's '60% Kannada' signboard decision

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 27 (ANI): The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) on Wednesday expressed concern over the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) directions for enforcing '60% Kannada' on all name boards for commercial establishments.
In this regard, FKCCI reiterated that it will always follow the rules of the government and will also instruct its members to adhere to the orders of the government or BBMP.
However, FKCCI requested that the state government not initiate any action under the above rule until the deadline of February 28, 2024.
"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.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru police on Wednesday detained the members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a pro-Kannada activist group, who were staging a protest in Karnataka's Bengaluru demanding that all businesses and enterprises in Karnataka should put up nameplates in Kannada in their shops to fulfil the state government obligation that 60 per cent of the nameplate should be in Kannada.
The public awareness protest was held under the leadership of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike State President T A Narayan Gowda.
It has also come to the fore that the KRV activists vandalised some of the shop boards carrying English nameplates. The members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike also broke flower pots outside the Mall of Asia in Bangalore, broke English signboards and sprayed black ink.
KRV State President T N Narayan Gowda said, "People from various states are doing business in Bangalore. But they don't put Kannada nameplates on their shops. They are only putting up the nameplates of their shops in English. If they want to stay back in Bangalore then they have to put nameplates on their shops in Kannada or else they have to move from Karnataka to other states."
He further said that there is a Karnataka government law that 60 per cent of the nameplate should be in Kannada. (ANI)