New Delhi: Delhi Tulusiri has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to recognise Tulu as the state’s second additional administrative language in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, calling it a significant development for the Tulu-speaking community.
The decision was taken at a special Cabinet meeting held in Mangaluru on September 18. The move followed a long-standing demand from Tulu-speaking organisations and representatives for greater official recognition of the language in the coastal region.
Vasantha Shetty Bellare, president of Delhi Tulusiri and a former member of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, said the decision had brought “joy” to the Tulu-speaking community. He said the organisation had raised the demand with political parties during the last Assembly election and urged them to include Tulu recognition in their election manifestos.
Bellare said the Congress had included the demand in its manifesto and welcomed the government’s decision to act on that commitment.
Delhi Tulusiri had also represented to the government that official administrative recognition for Tulu could strengthen the community’s efforts to seek the language’s inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
The organisation expressed gratitude to Prof Radhakrishna, then vice-chairperson of the Congress manifesto committee, committee chairman G Parameshwara and then KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, besides others who supported the demand.
Delhi Tulusiri also thanked members of the state Cabinet, legislators and MPs from the coastal region and others involved in efforts to promote and preserve Tulu.
The organisation said key leaders, including the chief minister, would be felicitated on behalf of the Tulu-speaking community in Delhi.
Delhi Tulusiri has been working in the national capital for nearly three decades to promote and preserve Tulu language and culture. Bellare said the organisation would continue its efforts for the inclusion of Tulu in the Eighth Schedule.