Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekar on Monday called upon the people of the State to make use of the option to communicate in Kannada on mobile apps.
Speaking at the 66th Rajyothsava Day celebrations in Mysuru, Mr .Somashekar, who is also the Minister in charge of Mysuru district, urged the people of the State to give primacy to Kannada language on mobile apps.
Online cab hailing apps such as Ola and online food delivery apps including Zomato had the option to communicate in Kannada, he said.
Mr. Somashekar expressed satisfaction over the increasing use of Kannada script and language on social media. By using Kannada script on social media and Internet communications, he felt that the language will also grow and become popular along with science and technology.
He said the State Government was also working towards promotion of Kannada in the digital world by including the language’s script in Unicode, facilitating use of Kannada on mobile phones, translations and coming up with Kannada Braille.
Mr. Somashekar pointed out that there were several subjects in higher education, whose medium of instruction was available in Kannada. Candidates can also write the examinations of these subjects in Kannada.
The State Government, under the New Education Policy, has permitted four to five educational institutions in the State to teach engineering in Kannada, he added. If the students make use of the opportunity, technical education can be imparted in mother tongue in the State in the coming days.
Making it clear that Kannada was not a language of any caste, community or creed, Mr .Somashekar said Kannada was the language of the land that reflects its culture, traditions, connections and civilisation.
Mr Somashekar paid rich tributes to the literary figures including Kuvempu and others, who strove for the unification of the State more than 66 years ago.
Earlier, he offered puja to the Goddess Bhuvaneshwari at the temple on the Mysuru palace premises. Later, he hoisted the Kannada flag in front of Kote Anjenaswamy Temple near the North Gate of the palace in the presence of several dignitaries.
A total of 66 persons were given the district-level Rajyothsava awards on the occasion.
MLAs Tanveer Sait, S.A. Ramdas and L. Nagendra, Mayor Sunanda Palanetra and Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautam were among those present on the occasion.
