Bengaluru, DHNS: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday sought power to the states to make the regional language the medium of instruction through a Constitutional amendment.

He was speaking at the Kanteerava Stadium in the city at the 61st Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations event organised by the Department of Public Instruction. He said that primary education in every state should be in the regional language. “I have written several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a meeting with chief ministers of all states to discuss the same. If the medium of instruction is English, all regional languages face a threat. Research has found that if the medium of study is in the mother tongue, it helps the child’s mental development,” he added.

He said that it was the relentless efforts of many that had kept Karnataka united and that it is now “our responsibility to safeguard the land, water and other resources”.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait said that the government is in the process of starting a digital library to encourage the reading habit among all. For this purpose, 25 lakh books and textbooks are being digitised. So far, 25,000 have been http://canaranews.com/uploaded, he said. At the event, an aggrieved man began shouting soon after the ministers spoke and sought “justice”.

He was immediately escorted out by the police. Siddaramaiah humorously remarked that he would be given the justice that he has asked for.