New ration card rules gather protest from Kannada-speaking residents in Kasargod

Mangaluru: The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority has strongly objected to Kerala government’s decision to print ration cards only in English and Malayalam languages in the Kasargod district.

Kasargod shares border with Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district and also has residents with Kannada as their mother tongue. But the new ration cards, issued under ‘Akshaya Yojana', will only have text in Malayalam and English as opposed to the earlier practice of printing both in Kannada and Malayalam. In the context of residents with Kannada as mother tongue expressing strong opposition to this move, Karnataka Border Area Development Authority has taken up the cause.

“In Kasargod district, over 95 percent of people speak Kannada as mother tongue. There are people who can't read or speak Malayalam in Kasargod,” an official release by the Authority issued by secretary Prakash Mattihalli stated.
The Authority noted that the Union Minority Affairs Ministry on September 9 this year had directed the Maharashtra Government to give preference to Kannada in areas of Sangli district where people who speak Kannada in large numbers. The Ministry had asked the Maharashtra government to print all government orders, circulars, and ID cards in Kannada.  Despite such clear instructions, the Kerala government has not printed the ration cards in Kannada,” the statement added.

"Manjeshwar has been spelled as ‘Manjeshwaram,’ in the card. The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority strongly condemns this move of the Kerala government. This has to be corrected immediately,” the Authority futher demanded.

Authority Chairman Dr C Somashekar has written to the Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Minister and Kasargod District Collector regarding this. He has also asked the Karnataka Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to bring this issue to the notice of their counterparts in Kerala.