A KDA order reads that since Kannada is the sovereign and administrative language in Karnataka, daily correspondence related to NAAC has to be conducted in Kannada.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Department of Collegiate Education has issued an order to all government, aided and private degree colleges as well as B.Ed colleges to conduct all letter correspondence and submit documents for National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation in Kannada.
In the wake of a letter written by the Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), Commissioner of Department of Collegiate Education N. Manjushree issued the order.
“The NAAC evaluates and grades government first-grade colleges, private and aided degree colleges, and B.Ed., colleges every five years according to the academic quality standards of the institution. Therefore, almost all the documents and correspondence of the college to NAAC is submitted in English only. But since Kannada is the sovereign and administrative language in Karnataka, daily correspondence related to NAAC has to be conducted in Kannada,” reads the order.
Complaint by Kannada professor
A Kannada professor of R.B.N.M.S. First Grade College in Bengaluru had filed a complaint with the Kannada Development Authority alleging that the Kannada department is being forced to prepare all documents in English on the pretext of University Grants Commission (UGC) and NAAC accreditation and is being subjected to mental harassment by imposing English on Kannada faculties.
KDA Chairman Purushottama Bilimale expressed his dissatisfaction by saying, “There is a directive that daily correspondence related to NAAC should be conducted in Kannada, and it is clear that RBNMS college has violated the intention of this order and adopted an anti-Kannada attitude.”
He wrote a letter to the Commissioner of the Department of Collegiate Education in this regard, requesting them to issue a circular to all private degree colleges to conduct any correspondence related to UGC and NAAC accreditation in Kannada and not to harass Kannada faculties in anyway.
Kannadiga member in NAAC committee
Prof. Bilimale said that there should be one member from each State in the NAAC committee. Accordingly, when the NAAC committee comes to Karnataka, there should be one member who is a Kannadiga. He should translate the necessary documents into English for the NAAC. “However, NAAC is violating these rules. Members from the respective States are not appointed to the committee. Those from outside the State pressure them to submit all documents and correspondence in English only. They issue notices to the principals of the colleges,” he said.
“Kannada professors have to make a Powerpoint presentation in English before the NAAC committee. All the necessary documents have to be submitted in English. What is the justice in submitting documents in English for Kannada subjects?” he questioned.
“Kannada language is the administrative language in Karnataka. In addition, the government’s orders are also clear about submitting documents and conducting correspondence with UGC and NAAC in regional languages. Especially, if documents are asked in English, those documents can be translated from Kannada and submitted or there are opportunities to deal with them bilingually,” he added.
Published – January 01, 2026 06:03 pm IST
