Chandrashekar Kambar, Sahitya Akademi president and former president of the Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, has favoured the effective implementation of technology in administration and for universal use of Kannada in computing and e-governance.
He was speaking at the inauguration function of the sammelan in Kalaburagi on Wednesday.
“Several years ago, at the insistence of writer Poorna Chandra Tejaswi, I appealed to the State government to give a push to Kannada computing. We were convinced that no language can survive without the use of modern technology and the use of the language in computers. The Department of Kananda and Culture, headed by then director Manu Baligar, released ₹ 2 crore for the project. The work began in earnest and teams of technologists came up with software and fonts. Some departments started using Kannada software. But this work has stopped or has slowed down at some level. I appeal to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to continue the work and ensure that computerised Kannada is used at all levels of government and in e-governance,” he said.
Dr. Kambar batted for content dubbing of informative TV channels in Kannada. Channels such as Discovery and History produce good quality content that can be educative and informative.
“They are very useful for children. These channels are now available in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and some other Indian languages. But they are not available in Kannada. This is because some people in the film industry is opposing dubbing. Such opposition is not good. Informative channels are our window to the world and allowing dubbing will enhance our knowledge base. There is no merit in not allowing dubbing. I appeal to Minister for Kannada and Culture C.T. Ravi to allow dubbing in Kannada,” he said.
He favoured primary education in the mother tongue of the child and urged the State government to introduce universal and compulsory education in Kannada medium in all schools. “This will help preserve our culture. Nothing else can,” he said. He blamed East India company administration for inculcating a craze for English education among the people.
“The introduction of English education by the British was strongly welcomed by the masses in India as they had been denied the opportunity for education for millenia. The deprived classes and Dalits who had not been exposed to education till then were excited about the opportunity,” Dr. Kambar said.
